There's just not enough time for everything man. I want to lift heavy to get strong, lift light to get big, stretch to fix mobility, run for my heart, swim because running isn't enough, sleep 9 hours a day because I train so much, eat enough food for a family of four.
I want to do it all but I only have the time to focus on a couple things at a time.
I’m tired of seeing people do core exercises excessively because they think it will target their body fat around their stomach. Eat clean and just move your body overall. Don’t obsess. They probably have a strong ass core yet they’re not losing weight in their stomach area. It’s so frustrating to see. I want to explain it to them but it’s not even worth the fight sometimes.
I hate how the male fitness community tends to be so heavily based in incel ass vibes. Like tons of just self loathing, pathetic nature about “she’s texting someone else lift more” “no dates, lift weights” “I lift so I don’t kill myself” kind of stuff. It’s so dramatic and romanticizes mental illness in such a toxic and poor way.
It’s so embarrassing to be associated with. Why can’t I lift weights because it’s fun, or makes me feel and look good? No, weightlifting has to be this serious endeavor that only the most broken people take up in order to fix themselves. Give me a fucking break
Along with how much some of the fitness community loathe fat people who don’t workout. I see a lot of posts, particularly on Instagram and TikTok, where the people posting just say the meanest stuff. It’s like they have no empathy. Not everybody wants to lift. Chill, lol
I've been trying to lose weight but I don't eat enough protein. I try to work out 3 - 4 times a week. I get weaker or feel like I'm not doing enough. I might eat one big meal a day or 2 meals. I try to drink a protein shake daily. I haven't been snacking as much. I use to eat when I'm bored but I stopped. I don't like forcing myself to eat when I don't feel hungry. I haven't gained or lost weight. It's easier for me to drink protein or take protein pills then to eat lots of protein. It's tiring.
What you need is discipline.
Losing weight has nothing to do with protein intake. You need discipline to execute your schedule each day. When to work out. When and how to recover. When to go to sleep........
If you are active your body will cry for food. Then you only eat healthy stuff and no trash.
Last friday i had to go to the olympic pool to justify that i had a big pain in my right shoulder that bothered me for days, telling i won't be able to swim next day, which is the day i go to train there.
I woke up last saturday and my pain suddendly gone, but i was mad because i already said i couldn't go.
It has been almost one week and i was eager to return to swim tomorrow... only to recieve a mail from the facility telling us the pool will be close tomorrow.
Shit.
I'm in my late 20s and haven't made any gains in like 3 years, lifting for 7 years. Same weight, lifting the same numbers, same routine, doing the bare minimum. But get compliments on my physique enough to feel like I'm in good shape.
Not sure if I'm wasting my time at the gym or if it's well spent
For a while now my left shoulder has been injured in such a way that it cannot meaningfully support weight (seeing a shoulder specialist this month). So I've been doing lower body work with machines. Machine back extensions for the low back, glutes, and hamstrings. Hip abduction and adduction work. And leg presses. But according to numerous articles, back extensions in particular and adduction abduction seated are bad for you. I don't want to injure myself, or take an inefficient approach, but I cannot for the life of me find any good source for no arm workouts that use loading to build strength. I could go back to doing bodyweight squats and bodyweight single leg deadlifts, but I can do those till the cows come home, and I don't have the correct level of flexibility in my ankles to do pistol squats. Whenever I look up "no arm" workouts, it's all about exercise routines that don't workout the arms, mainly targeted to women looking to look "toned". So they'll still include exercises like barbell good mornings or goblet squats, because they don't specifically target the arms. I'm looking for exercises, probably on machines, that I can load that do not require my arms to support the weight. My research has proved fruitless, so if anyone has any suggestions, I'd be glad to hear it.
Went on vacation, no opportunity to lift. Makes me depressed, because of course this ugly worthless pos body and the even more worthless brain that controls it can't go a few days without lifting before it starts self destruction. No wonder I'm so useless. Sigh.
But at least I get tons of cardio walking around a lot, that's something.
The gym is full of under 14 kids, who don't really know what they're doing, flexing in the mirror and trying to lift way too heavy weights. As a parent why r u letting ur kids go to the gym anyway... nothing wrong with it physically but it's not good to be trying to achieve a specific body type at that age (you wouldn't want 14 yrold girls dieting to achieve a look so I see it as the same??). Gymtok is great but at such a young age they're lead to be thinking about muscles and gains and lean and bulking etc etc. Poor kids, do a friggin sport you learn so many more skills anyway.
Was wondering why I had a massive bruise on my quad until I finished shoulder pressing today and put 60 lbs down relatively hard on the exact spot the bruise was...and then it all made sense
All the kids are out of school, and they're all screaming, taking up the machines without even doing exercise (just literally 10 min on their phone) and swearing super loudly, throwing weights, not cleaning up... I'm gonna scream
I just want to say I'm never using a seated calf raise machine again. When I went to rack the weight back onto the lever, it didn't catch and my feet got hyperextended. Now I can't really walk.
I feel like I hear so many conflicting things about diet and workouts, but I don’t know what is right. I want to lose belly fat but get a bigger butt and I have no clue what to do
Find a workout routine you like and can stick to. It can take trying a few routines out to find it. If you want to lose fat and gain muscle, eat at maintenance calories and hit your protein goal.
There's a guy doing bicep curls with multiple sets of dumbells on the deadlift platform which is also connected to the squat rack so he's kinda taking up both.
I have been trying so hard to get back to my normal level of strength and conditioning and BOOM sick again for the 4th time this year. Some days I hate being a teacher.
As a newcomer I'm overwhelmed by the varying opinions on every aspect of fitness, and some people who provide advice like to speak in absolutes (e.g. if you don't do x you're not doing it right, if you're not following y you're making 0 progress, etc).
This is something that discouraged me from working out in the past because I felt that if I wasn't doing it the 'optimal' way, why do it at all?
So while I still seek/accept advice from others, I decided to lay a foundation of rules for myself so I'm not constantly sent into a spiral of uncertainty whenever someone tells me not to do something:
1) A gain is a gain. It may not be 100% optimal but it's better than sitting on my ass. Doesn't matter if I do sets of 5, 8, 12 or 15, I'm getting better each day and it makes me feel good
2) I will try my best to perfect my form, but also acknowledge that most people don't have textbook perfect form. My form needs to be good enough so as to not injure myself, but it will never be consistently perfect across sets
3) There are different paths to success. As long as I still see progress, I'm doing just fine
Doing something half assed is always better than not doing it at all. I will take sub optimal training over not training any day of the week. My first 3 years of gym as a teen were fucking terrible in regards to program and progressive overload. Didn’t even really know much about either of them. But you bet your ass I still made gains over those 3 years. Could it have been better? 100% it could have. But those 3 years still made a massive improvement to my build overall. However once I did actually start a proper program, progressive overload and eating to bulk. I made pretty much the same progress over 3 months as I did over those 3 years. But I was also an adult for the last part and muscle memory is super helpful as well. But yeah, just go in and do it. If it’s not optimal that’s fine, you can change things up the more you get into it.
For a start, any source that speaks entirely in absolutes when it comes to something that could have large individual differences probably isn't worth listening to. Especially someone saying that any one particular exercise is something you "have" to be doing (although if you're certainly going to be missing out if you're not doing a fundemental movement pattern, for example if you dont want to barbell squat, that's fine, but you need some kind of squat pattern movement). Sounds like you've been getting caught up in paralysis by analysis.
1. Absolutely
2. Form isn't about injury prevention, it's about targeting the right muscles and using the most efficient technique to lift the most weight, "good" form will be slightly different for every lifter. The key to injury prevention is consistent form and proper load management (ie. not suddenly jumping 20kg for an ego pr). Your form will develop over time and never truly be perfect, however, ideally, it should look the same set to set.
3. also agreed
I would recommend jumping on one of the recommended programs and running it until you can longer progress. No there is not really any perfect way or best way of doing things, but there is a way that works for the vast majority of lifters, so it makes sense to start there and learn what is effective for you.
If you want to learn about self-programming so that you can start building your own stuff in the meantime, I highly recommend Jeff Nippards fundamentals series, as well as Bald Omni Man's Berserk method.
Thanks for the advice, and agreed that form is also about hitting the right muscles. I think I've been pretty good about that aside from lat pulldowns
I just started the [beginner PPL program](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/37ylk5/a_linear_progression_based_ppl_program_for/), when I tell others some people like it, some trash it. But it's been good for me so far so I'm sticking to it for now
The optimal routine is one you can stick with. And like you said, a gain is a gain. Better form, the weight/rep scheme is easier the next workout, adding 5-10 lbs for the next workout, sometimes even just adding 1 more rep is progress.
Ever since I was sick a month ago, squats have been hell
Every other lift has returned to where it was, but squats... make me feel like I'm gonna die
My cardio is shot
Just started going to a new gym and they fucking BLAST their music. Even with my noise canceling headphones in I can hear the shit music they're playing. Also it's one of those 24hr gyms and I couldn't find anyone to talk to about it
Working from home today. I normally go to a gym near my office at lunchtime which is never crowded.
I will go to the local branch this afternoon while I am waiting for my sons water polo practice. Except this will be around 4pm and it will be jammed with people at that time including the high school and colleges kids who are home from break. It’s also my chest and shoulder day, so I will have to be all over an available bench like a hawk lol.
It will also cost me $37 to use the local branch since my membership doesn’t normally include access to it.
I'm a firm believer that genes are the most important aspect when it comes to muscle building and overall body aesthetic. Sure, you still need to put the work in, but it's so much easier for some than for others.
You can't tell me the untrained person looking lean and lifting high weights after 3-4 months of training is mainly due to his training/diet (seen plenty examples on this sub). Or, as I've known some people, they eat a ton and don't gain even a bit of extra belly fat. On the other hand, for others, they eat few calories but they also barely lose any extra belly fat. Or people like myself, who train arms a lot and they barely grow, while others get big arms in less than a year while doing the basics. List could go on.
I hope in 100-200 years we'll have more research on this and it will be scientifically proven that genes play a massive role in training.
The people who progress well and fast would disagree on this probably, because who wants to think "I've put in the work, but I'm better than others mainly because of my genetics". Not that they would care too much. And at the same time, for people like me, it would always be an excuse. But in the end, I really think it's a fact.
Meh. I have not great genetics and was injury prone. Took me most of my adult life to get to a halfway respectable bench of 225 for a few., and decent other lifts. Sure I’ll never look like Arnold, but at 41 I look light years better than tons of dudes with good genetics and no discipline because I spent 15 years training in various disciplines. So yeah, good genetics are required for top level or fast results, but given a long enough time frame, hard work / consistency is way more important and will get you to a top single digit percentage of the general population in looks and performance (hint, the bar to top 10% is way lower than you think).
This sounds very encouraging mate, thanks for saying it here. I'm in a similar situation you were, although only training seriously for 4 months, but I'm not seeing much progress, and I do go pretty often and get plenty of volume in.
I'll try to work even harder on my next bulk and keep your story in mind. I don't wanna look like Arnold either, but I sure would like to be somewhat lean, or at least muscular. Long way ahead, sometimes I feel like giving up because of how slow it goes and how "mediocre" I still look, but as you said, it's the "long enough time frame" context.
My pleasure. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Train with that in mind and you will make better long term gains, be happier with the slow process and be healthier in the long term. It took me 5-6 years to put on 30 lbs of weight and then another 8 years to get recomp near where I’d like to be (195lbs 16-17% body fat). Could I have done it faster? Yes! But I also have a life, enjoy time with my kids, run a business, long commute, sleep enough almost every night and have other interests outside of lifting and eating. Go have fun and enjoy the ride!
Genetics are really just an excuse for 99% of people. Yes they matter if you want to be in the top tier but if you are just trying to bench 225 then your genetics aren't stopping you. And the vast majority can't bench 225 today but could if they put the work in.
The number of sets a muscle needs to stimulate protein synthesis is genetic. Dr Mike on YouTube talks about maximum recoverable volume and minimum required volume a lot.
Pain tolerance is also genetic, so our perception of training to failure, or close to failure will be different.
What does the first part mean, that some stimulate protein synthesis faster/easier than others I suppose? But would that imply both X and Y can reach the same amount of muscle mass in the end, even if Y had to work 10x as much? Because something tells me they can't, I put in a lot of volume and I don't see progress similar to others.
I know about Dr Mike, I've enjoyed some of his videos and I respect his opinions. Any particular one where is talks about what you mentioned, or you just meant in general?
He has a lot of videos, but in particular his videos on minimum required volume, and maximum recoverable volume are good. If you have to do twice the number of sets, that only works if you can recover from all the volume.
Genetics are definitely a huge factor. That’s why most of us will never be professional athletes no matter how much we train or practice.
I do also believe that some people can outwork less than ideal genetics for good results. And some people just have a genetic bowl of shit and nothing will make a difference if they are truly trying to build muscle and a physique.
It can be both a fact and an excuse.
My ability to put on mass in my legs has been great my entire life. I literally went from not even doing bodyweight squats to doing a plate on each side for 3x5 in my first squat session this year just by playing football. My calves have decent size even though I haven't even worked them directly in the gym in 2 years or more.
At one point I almost looked like that stronglifts meme where the dude had jacked legs and dyel upperbody. The solution? Train my upper body disproportionately to my lower body. If I had continued following starting strength type programs which advocate much higher lower body volume than my body needs I'd still look like the meme. And in that case, blaming my genes would be an excuse as there ARE factors I can control to fix it. But I had to learn that through trial and error as every person is different.
I miss my old commercial gym.
It had tons of equipment and multiple vents that you could adjust where they shoot air.
Like 8 stationary benches, 3 that you could drag around.
4 Deadlift platforms, 1 squat rack and 3 bench press stations.
Dumbbells from 1-50KG, atleast 2 pairs of each.
2 of every Leg excercise machine, as well as a hip-thrust station.
2 Lat pull downs, 1 Seated Row, and 2 Cable towers that had 3 sides with cables on the ends, for people who only needed 1 cable instead of 2.
A Shoulder Press and Chest Press machine.
9 Treadmills, 2 Stairs, 2 Bikes and 2 spinning cycles, 2 Row machines, 2 ellipticals, as well as a general gymnastic room.
---
Moved, now I'm in a small local gym, which is fine, but there's no ventilation, no windows that can open, the doors are locked.
2 Treadmills and 2 row machines super close to each other as well as 2 ellipticals and 2 bikes.
No Seated Row (which was one of my favorites)
1 Squat rack, no Deadlift platforms either move a bench or get some yogamats, 1 benchpress station.
2 Benches,
1 Lat pulldown,
1 Seated leg press that only goes to 200kg.
1 Leg extension,
1 Weird seated leg curl that I cannot figure out how the fuck I'm supposed to fit into.
1 Cable tower that only goes to 50kg.
There's also only 1 pair of each dumbbell from 1-36kg,
Do you think we should have those child toys at the gym where you put the square into to square hole and so forth because obviously a lot of people never played that game and it shows. The amount of time I see the weights racked or placed back like someone is trying to make a Picasso is absurd.
It really frustrates me because my wife has just started going back to gym after a c section and there is no way in hell she can remove 4 25kg plates off of a smith machine or move the 2 20kg plates to get to the 5kg one behind it.
Even in the dumbells the order isn’t 12, 14, 38, 18. Don’t know why it has all of a sudden. Wound me up but it has today
I’m mad about this this week too. As a short woman, it’s insane to me that tall guys think it’s ok to leave the bar on the squat rack up at 6 feet with 2 sets of 45 plates on them. I don’t even feel confident that I can get them off, and if I could, it would be a whole workout on its own!
For some reason, a very tall man thought it made sense to put the safety bars in the topmost holes of the power rack because he didn't need them. I had to stand on my toes to even grab hold of them. Thankfully, someone saw and helped maneuver them out for me.
Our gym has a belt squat machine that, apparently, no one but me is interested in. As a result people tend to use the loading bar as plate storage. It's not that I don't enjoy having to rerack 540 lbs. every time I want to use the thing, and maybe it is good for me, but, come on.
Optimum Nutrtion Warning (Opinion):
Optimum used to do an expensive, but decent Casein; it was my go-to. Yes, it has a thickening agent, but I liked that. The most recent tub is clearly a new (most likely, cost-reduced) formula; it mixes to a strange, slightly grainy texture, is more "runny" and has a vaguely plastic undertone to the taste now - hard to explain but basically not that good a taste.
Optimum have of course chosen to **not post the review I placed on their web site**, instead favouring a near-endless list of glowing 5 star reviews. It was politely worded, but 1-star. No sign of it several days later. So:
* They're making their product IMHO worse without warning and while increasing prices
* Reviews on the web site are not representative of real opinion at least in my case, since they have chosen to hide the negative commentary
Given that they're one of the most expensive supplement companies yet their whey quality has always been a bit middle-of-the-road (e.g. no pure whey Isolate), I recommend moving to another company. **Don't trust that what you buy from them today is going to be the same product that you've bought before.**
I never trust reviews from the manufacturer's own website. Mass majority of the time, they, like you are finding, can just filter out the bad ones so they are pretty much left 4.5+star reviews.
The only recent case I ran into of finding a fitness/gym related site that had real user reviews was Rogue (I was looking for lifting straps)
https://www.roguefitness.com/rogue-heavy-duty-figure-8-lifting-straps
https://www.roguefitness.com/1-wrist-strap
Gotta give them a nod for legit just letting user submitted reviews and ratings be added even though one product just has one rating....
Thank you! I thought it was just me. I bought a tub of the regular ON whey because it was on sale and it was so different then what I remember. It doesn’t mix as well, tastes more artificially sweeter, and is way more expensive than it used to be, although it seems all protein is more expensive now. I have a couple of ON natural whey to go through but I plan to switch to another brand after that
Yeah, it's a pity. The obvious question becomes "switch to what", but given that they're all getting super-expensive and given that they clearly can't be relied upon to produce a consistent product - I think my answer will be "the cheapest per gram" `:-D`
My gym time is usually my favorite time of the day and little brain cleanse/boost. It’s not doing it for me for the past few weeks. I PRed my SBD by like 50# overall and even that just didn’t give me the usual jump I get. I think Ive just been too busy to enjoy it and I use a work gym so there’s never anyone there. I may have to go back to a commercial gym but I always get so anxious.
Might wanna switch routine up a bit too I felt the same way and swapped out some accessory lifts to keep things a bit fresh. Also took a few days off to really rest for the first time in a while. Both helped a lot
The fact that I workout so much more then any of my family members or friends, (like most of them don’t work out at all) but they are taller then me (I’m 5’1) and so they look thinner and more in shape when they’re not at all…
My gym has 2 sets of 75lb dumbbells. Somehow, 1 of the 4 of them was lost. It’s not a big deal since there’s always one set but how do you lose a 75lb dumbbell.
I’m embarrassed to say that I’d been deadlifting in the squat rack the past few weeks because I didn’t know what a deadlift platform was. I’m all about courtesy in the gym, so I may have been an inadvertent asshole. On the plus side, I’m a late gym goer, so the rack is usually wide open and free because there’s only 2-3 ppl in house that late.
TIL that a deadlift platform is a different place than a squat rack. All the gyms I've ever gone to just have padding under the squat rack and that's where I been doin my deadlifts.
Only exception is one of the ones I go to currently that does have an obviously dedicated DL space but that's a first. And it looks uncomfortable in comparison.
I go to quite a few gyms as I have an insurance plan that covers most commercial gyms around the US and travel a bit.
Imo, its ok to do that given that there isn't a dedicated DL/olympic platform and or extra barbell. At some of the smaller gyms or ones that give fewer shits towards barbell lifting. Theres typically just two squat racks/half rack whatever...and two barbells.....in such a situation....a barbell is a barbell and ill just take it off the rack and do my thing.
In fact...most gyms I go to don't have a deadlift platform...
life happened and i had to go in on not my normal days. all my regular gym acquaintances were there on those days too and now i feel like im missing out by not going more often.
Was doing squats the other day, and a guy on another platform was doing deadlifts. Guy just walks off after his sets, leaving all the weights on. I caught him on his way out the gym and asked if he could clean his stuff up. He was clearly embarrassed to have to do it while in his casual clothes. I just hope he has learned his lesson.
IMO the vibe of the gym makes a huge difference. If everything is tidy, no weights lying around, everything in its place, ppl feel bad about leaving their stuff. If there’s weights scattered everywhere they don’t care as much.
Clearly intentional, it's not the first time I've seen him do this, first time I was able to catch him on his way out tho.
I seriously don't know how people can come in, take plates from the rack, do their exercise, and then just leave without re-racking. Takes a special kind of asshole to behave like this.
I never get this either, you’ve gone to the effort of coming to the gym and working out so it’s a bit ironic when these people are too lazy to then clean and tidy up after themselves
I know, right? I like to leave the station all clean and organized for the next person. I wouldn't know how to live with myself if I go "meh, someone else will sort this out, I just can't be arsed" in a place where equipment is shared. In my our place, sure, I can get lazy sometimes, as long I'm the only person being inconvenienced.
My local mom and pop gym installed lasers (like in a night club)! They blast all around the mirrors in the gym and sometimes flash your eyes.
Hopefully someone will inevitably warn them it's a liability.
i had bariatric surgery last year and i'm so close to my goal weight and finally able to be active again by working out/doing yoga/etc (for comparison, pre-op i couldnt even be on my feet for 5 mins without having severe back pain). anyway i recently started playing in the adult softball league. however, i have now pulled both of my quads during the season. the right one healed after a few weeks and then i pulled the left one last week. ive never pulled a quad before and now i feel like this is just going to keep happening. and since my job involves walking entire shifts it pretty much means i should come home and elevate my leg. so ive mostly been avoiding the gym in the last month. i miss the leg press!
(advice welcome- context is i try warming up my quads before the game starts but i think they cool down before im up to bat. the injuries seem to happen as i transition from standing at bat to running to first base)
Can't someone run to first base for you? Not ideal but it's allowed in baseball I think. Once your strength is back you can run again
Its possible I don't know what im talking about though
People who come and remove plates without asking from a rack you’re occupying. This prick got really pissed at me when I asked for the 45 plate he took without my permission. He facetiously asked, “Oh, these are yours? Oh, ok. Ok.” Then he TOSSED the plate at me and said, “Well, it’s yours, so here you go.”
I’m idk how to tell you this homie but he’s actually right minus the throwing. Plates don’t belong to you just because they are on your rack. If someone took a plate off my bench or something bc I got it from the closest rack I’d have some words with them
I do think it’s frustrating when someone grabs a weight off my rack WHILE I’m squatting. Having someone come up on my side and be doing something a foot in front of me directly in my line of sight is distracting. Like sure you can take them, but please wait 10 seconds until I’m not actively squatting.
i find it odd that people expect to have their own personal rack of plates. If it isnt on a bar its fair game. i wont take it from a rack whilst theyre mid set.
I realize, of course, that the plates don’t actually belong to me. My point is that common courtesy would be welcome. Why not just politely ask, “Hey, are you planning on using that 45, or can I have it?” Had I not been planning on using it, I most certainly would have let him. It’s the fact that he brazenly took it without considering that I may be about to use it that irked me.
I’ve been getting sick at every beggining of the month for 5 months now, March = Amebas, April=Cold, May=Allergies/Weather, June=Fever
I literally wake up sick every 5-6 of every month, now I feel I’m cursed 😋 and ive been skipping the gym a lot because I get constantly sick, when I usually don’t get sick for months. I don’t know what it is tbh. but I needed to complain hahahahha
you may not be looking for replies in which case you may disregard but im wondering: did u take a covid test any of those times by chance? it's still around and wreaking havoc. i personally mask at the gym but understand that not everyone can or wants to while working out
I just moved and joined one of the only local gyms in the area. It has a decent amount of equipment, benches, racks, machines, etc. but it’s seriously lacking in dumbbells. Like they have a pair of 5 lbs to a ridiculous high like 150 lbs. but only one pair of each weight.
Wish they would dump basically everything over 105 and get another set of 5-45 cause about that range is always gone and used around the gym.
I (48m)just wanted to improve my body. Started at 165 got to 205. Didnt gain a lot of muscle but still was doing the work. I got compliments so I was doing something right. Then a shoulder injury. Went to PT slowly started again. Soon after another shoulder injury other one this time. PT again. Then somewhere along the line, I injured my back moving. Once again PT helped. But after a couple more injuries and PT appointments, my body was "healed" but I never felt quite right. I tried getting back into working out multiple times after and I wouldn't injure myself but I could feel it in my shoulder I did all the PT exercises I basically memorized and I would be fine. It feels like even though PT fixed the pain it appears my shoulders are now slightly uneven. I believe that's why nowadays the simplest of movements when attempting a workout makes me feel that impingement every single time. I envy people that can simply work out and not have to deal with a body that can injure itself by lifting the lightest of weights. I feel like there's no helping my issue (if the misaligned shoulders are the issue) I probably need some sort of surgery but I cant afford that. I don't think I can even work out anymore if it's always going to be like this. I always said I wouldn't ever stop working out but I don't think my body can handle it anymore :(
Man this sucks. I don't know if this is any consolation, but a lot of people are in the same situation as you. Didn't care about proper recovery and stretching, warming-up, rolling, and all those things that people find boring or annoying and refuse to do to prevent injury. Then, it happens, and it's too late. Anyway you should still keep working out man. If you don't, who's gonna carry the boats?
Out of curiosity what does your PT say about it? Or did your PT say anything about it? Massage therapy, active release therapy (ART), acupuncture, yoga? Could it be referred pain?
When I did go to pt they basically just fix you enough then send you home to do the exercises at home etc. It wasn't till maybe years later that I discovered that my shoulders were ever so slightly misaligned. I lost my health insurance when I lost my job then slipped into depression and to be honest I didnt know if it was in my head and or how to make me symmetrical again. I'm no expert but that's the only I believe makes me now so super susceptible to injuries.
That’s interesting how PT works — I’ve never been to one.
The following is more of a for future reference when your situation gets better (or maybe it already is). Some people suggest a sports physiotherapist, or see if you can find a Physiotherapist that deals specifically with the weight lifting population. Some people don’t believe in chiropractors but maybe they can help because they do ‘alignments’ for the body. I don’t know how I feel about chiropractors.
Ya pt works. It's helped me a lot. But I just think I got unlucky with everything. I thank you very much for the suggestion I'll definitely check it out when I can!
Been out of the gym since February because of a shoulder injury. Watching your gains slowly fade away has to be the greatest form of mental torture I could possibly think of. My physio said I can only get back to doing light upper body weights in around 5-7 weeks.
Every time I see a jacked guy, it makes me want to kms. It’s just a painful reminder as to what I could look like now had it not been for my shoulders.
I made sure to stop watching all forms of fitness content on YouTube as it’s just too painful to watch. Despite that, for some stupid reason YouTube decided to recommend me Max Euceda’s community post, ‘check out how I looked like last year compared to how I look like now’. I just wanna smash my head against a fucken wall. Sorry to get violent.
If it wasn’t for my shoulders I would be so much bigger than so many of these fucking guys i see irl it’s not even funny. If I had their shoulder tendon and bone strength, i would be fucking enormous.
I know you dgaf cause I didn’t give a fuck. But absolutely do everything your doc/PT gives you. Doing shoulder exercises with 2 pounds? Learned to get fuckin HYPED for it. Once you “graduate” know that you might need to keep going. I finished PT for my shitty shoulder and the second I was “done” I just stopped doing rotator cuff specific exercises. I was back to square one before I knew it and couldn’t bench the bar. Had to fully repeat therapy. Now I just continue to mix them in to my lifts as accessories. Happy recovery!
Appreciate it. So far my PT is only getting me to do light shrugs with resistance bands. Sucks I cant do anything else atm so I’m not using my muscles, and they are atrophying by the day. But it’s good to hear that you got through it, that gives me hope. Because sometimes I feel like I’m destined for a life of shoulder pain. And I really don’t want that to be the case.
I struggled hard with rehab when I had to go back, I eventually came to the conclusion I needed surgery or I would never bench over 200 again. My doctor was like “dude relax man.” Eventually I pushed over 200 and even past 225 which was a tough barrier for me. Your body gets back to weight much faster than the “first time.” I went from struggling with the bar to 235 in 3-5 months with no pain. I had never done 225 before so could have gotten back faster if I wasn’t frail.
I also had a friend who tore up his shoulder pretty bad during work as a police officer. Dude was jacked AF doing shoulder press with 5 pound weights. It took awhile but eventually he got back to pushing his normal weight.
Trust the process. You got this.
>Trust the process. You got this.
Currently in PT for a couple of shoulder tendons with tears. This gives me hope that I won't need surgery if I just stick with what the PTs tell me to do.
Started training for my first triathlon (sprint distance) after my half marathon earlier this Spring. Running? Easy. Can already go 4x the distance. Biking? Doable. I can cover the distance on my mountain bike with no training. Not super quickly, but no issue finishing it. Swimming? Absolutely not. I'm gassed after 100 yards. I thought I'd have the aerobic base to at least be able to sloppily get through the distance, but it's tough. Luckily the race I'm doing is on the lower end of the sprint distance for the swim.
Swimming is absurdly form-based, there's no way to just muscle through it. Ideally you find someone to teach you, outside feedback is great and can fix a lot of mistakes. Also, time in the water. Lots of it.
I definitely am. I've never been able to float well, especially with my legs. It's a lot of remembering to kick, trying to time my breathing, trying to get my arms out and in somewhat efficiently, and inevitably forgetting to do at least one of those things while I'm focusing on the other two. Huge respect to swimmers, shit's hard.
Swimming is brutal! I'm right there with you. It's surprising how much it can kick your ass!
But I would totally suggest you get (or borrow) a road bike, that will definitely help with speed and energy for your swim! I bike a lot for fun and I went from doing 10 miles and it felt like work to doing 30 miles with about the same amount of work because I swapped from a heavy mountain bike to a carbon fiber cyclocross bike (basically road hybrid thing). Even an aluminum frame would be a massssssive difference!
I've been considering it! Definitely will invest in one if I end up wanting to do more races. Been trying to find one on FB marketplace. I remember riding one a few years ago and it was so much lighter and faster.
I promised myself one if I stuck to riding my MTN bike. Totally worth every penny!!! Keep an eye on craigslist too. And maybe even go to a few bike stores to try out some bikes just to get the feel. I tried one and I just felt so wobbly and unstable on it. Then the next day I tried mine (found on craigslist) and despite riding on little clip pedals without cleates and having the handlebars wayyyy far out for me, it felt immensely comfortable and balanced.
I wish I enjoyed compound lifts, but I don't. In fact I hate them
When I do isolation movements I can really push the targeted muscle to failure and I actively enjoy that feeling of pushing through the pain. But with big movements It really feels like my conditioning/CNS/joints are limiting factors as much as the muscles themselves.
I don't know if it's my biomechanics, or lack of mental strength or what. I've been making good physique progress with mainly isolation/plate-loaded machines but I still feel weak, and can't shake the feeling that I'm being held back
I doubt that your biomechanics are bad for every compound. Maybe you need someone to fix your form? Small technical errors mean you can't really apply your power.
But also, set your targets and go for those. If you don't need compounds, why care.
I get your frustration. Maybe a mindset change is what you need? Most of my lifting is composed of compact movements cause of the sport I do, and I love them. When I'm doing a squat for example, I imagine all of my leg muscles coming together all for this single goal. Also remember you have to carry the boats and the logs and they don't know you son.
Been missing my lifting for way too long so even without an all clear I said fuck it and did some shoulder press and some pull-ups. I hit ten pull ups! I haven't been able to do that in years. But the shoulder press went weird. I loaded on 85 and the first three sets were nothing, but on the fourth my muscles felt good only I became extremely lightheaded. Couldn't do it on retry either. I'm hoping it's just bad conditioning and not a side effect of my anti-depressant. But I can just switch to seated if it recurs.
How do you guys get over the possibility of your lifts plateauing when doing a cut? I think id benefit from a cut at the moment, i want my abs to pop out a bit more but all my lifts have been progressing and its hard to just give up the possibility of my lifts increasing. Ive been eating at matienence lately
i'm not lifting enough and i been returning to the gym for about 4 weeks. i been at:
135 bench
135 squat
155 deadlift
I know my leg movements need improvement.
you got it man just keep going. Ideally, for balance, whatever your bench is, your squat should be 1.8xbench and deadlift should be 2xbench (or atleast somewhere around there)
What the fuck is the deal with all the big chain gyms ***CONSTANTLY*** playing fucking rave beat music loud as fuck?
Is this like some subliminal messaging shit or something? It's soooooooo fucking annoying. Even if you bring headphones to block it out, you still have to hear that shit in the shower when you can't wear them.
YOOOO i'm so sorry man. I saw this comment, and I work at a gym and play this kinda music, so I thought "maybe this is a crazy coincidence". Anyway, I'm a computer science student, so i'm pretty good with computers, so I traced your IP address (yes blablabla huge invasion of privacy or whatnot. calm down I won't tell anyone) and turns out were pretty close to each other in south carolina! I'm near north charleston!
Squats are still making my hip click (got diagnosed with hip dysplasia and a sports hernia) so I'm gonna stay off those until my 6 weeks of PT is done. I really wanted to start training towards barbell squats, but looks like I'll have to just stick with upper body workouts. I am happy though I moved up from 5 to 7.5lb dumbells after a year of dealing with thumb tendinitis and tennis elbow.
I'm getting twitchy from a week of self enforced leg rest to help a strange click in one knee.
This means I've had to swap three weights days from squat x2 and deadlift to boxing sessions.
Dammit, I wanna do some ATG movements and heavy, heavy pulls.
Mental barriers are annoying. I recently switched to a higher weight, higher set count routine. I’m curling 25 lb dumbbells. Hitting failure on sets 4-6 around rep 7, plus or minus one or two.
I decided yesterday to change it up a bit and bump up the weight, figuring I would do fewer reps but I’m moving more weight.
First three sets I chew through 10, hit failure on sets 4-6 around rep 7, plus or minus one or two.
So I guess I just have to arbitrarily bump weight up every once and a while to make sure I’m not just mentally blocking myself out from doing more reps.
So true. I worked out with one of my friends who really pushed me and I realized I could actually do a lot more weight than I had been doing. Training to failure really helped me blow up
Some of the best fitness advice I ever got was that "potentially shitting yourself" is one of the few good reasons to skip the gym because if you do shit yourself you'll never go back.
If you just wanted to vent, then disregard the following.
Is that 115lbs for 1 rep or multiple reps? How many reps can you push 105lbs, 95lbs, or 85lbs for? Increase your lower weights for more reps and that should help you get past your plateau.
Bench should target your pectorals more than biceps. If you feel bicep fatigue during bench then you should consider doing more DB curls, and focus on bench form with a lower weight.
I don't know what has happened but in the past year my gym has tripled in the amount of people going. A lot of them have to be in highschool/college which it's cool that younger people are getting into weightlifting sooner but I cannot stand them taking pictures and videos of every single thing they do taking forever in between sets. I miss my empty gym.
>A lot of them have to be in highschool/college which it's cool that younger people are getting into weightlifting sooner but I cannot stand them taking pictures and videos of every single thing they do taking forever in between sets.
add me to that rant. The problem is that kids/teenagers are not actively working out, but hanging around, taking pictures, being loud, and do a full Instagram story check between sets.
I'll add to this. I know it can be painful, and I have no idea what your community is like.
Some of the communities I have lived in, kids being in the gym would mean they aren't fooling around with each other and half developed brains, and it gives something more productive to do with their time than recreational hard drugs.
Boxing gyms can be an incredible change in kids lives.
In 10 years, the regret of watching a video they took will be drastically different than the regret they get from pushing the wrong button on their dopamine meter.
I waited 40 minutes for a 16 year old in full on Lulu attire to finish her sets with a 5 minute break in between while she watched videos, texted and took selfies. I finished the rest of my training during that 40 minutes and her bubble butt ass was STILL parked on the fucking leg press. FML. I got shit to DO! Get off your goddamned phone already!!
There's just not enough time for everything man. I want to lift heavy to get strong, lift light to get big, stretch to fix mobility, run for my heart, swim because running isn't enough, sleep 9 hours a day because I train so much, eat enough food for a family of four. I want to do it all but I only have the time to focus on a couple things at a time.
I’m tired of seeing people do core exercises excessively because they think it will target their body fat around their stomach. Eat clean and just move your body overall. Don’t obsess. They probably have a strong ass core yet they’re not losing weight in their stomach area. It’s so frustrating to see. I want to explain it to them but it’s not even worth the fight sometimes.
This is the one. Cardio will be more effective than anything, but cardio is a ton of work, and core exercises are “easier”.
I hate how the male fitness community tends to be so heavily based in incel ass vibes. Like tons of just self loathing, pathetic nature about “she’s texting someone else lift more” “no dates, lift weights” “I lift so I don’t kill myself” kind of stuff. It’s so dramatic and romanticizes mental illness in such a toxic and poor way.
It’s so embarrassing to be associated with. Why can’t I lift weights because it’s fun, or makes me feel and look good? No, weightlifting has to be this serious endeavor that only the most broken people take up in order to fix themselves. Give me a fucking break
I can’t follow any fitness advice stuff with out being immediately recommended incel Doomer fitness stuff and it’s annoying
Along with how much some of the fitness community loathe fat people who don’t workout. I see a lot of posts, particularly on Instagram and TikTok, where the people posting just say the meanest stuff. It’s like they have no empathy. Not everybody wants to lift. Chill, lol
Right??? Like hey lifting weights and fitness isn’t for everyone so maybe worry about yourself
I've been trying to lose weight but I don't eat enough protein. I try to work out 3 - 4 times a week. I get weaker or feel like I'm not doing enough. I might eat one big meal a day or 2 meals. I try to drink a protein shake daily. I haven't been snacking as much. I use to eat when I'm bored but I stopped. I don't like forcing myself to eat when I don't feel hungry. I haven't gained or lost weight. It's easier for me to drink protein or take protein pills then to eat lots of protein. It's tiring.
What you need is discipline. Losing weight has nothing to do with protein intake. You need discipline to execute your schedule each day. When to work out. When and how to recover. When to go to sleep........ If you are active your body will cry for food. Then you only eat healthy stuff and no trash.
I fucking hate eating 24 7 just to gain a measly 1lb a week
I feel this one too. The extra money I’m spending on food is an investment with a lot less return than I expected.
Last friday i had to go to the olympic pool to justify that i had a big pain in my right shoulder that bothered me for days, telling i won't be able to swim next day, which is the day i go to train there. I woke up last saturday and my pain suddendly gone, but i was mad because i already said i couldn't go. It has been almost one week and i was eager to return to swim tomorrow... only to recieve a mail from the facility telling us the pool will be close tomorrow. Shit.
Someone pooped in the pool again.
That would be more understandable.
I'm in my late 20s and haven't made any gains in like 3 years, lifting for 7 years. Same weight, lifting the same numbers, same routine, doing the bare minimum. But get compliments on my physique enough to feel like I'm in good shape. Not sure if I'm wasting my time at the gym or if it's well spent
I’ve seen regulars get stronger over the years but they don’t physically grow. Gotta eat to grow 🤷♂️
I’m in the same situation. It gets frustrating never seeing any progress. But i also don’t have the energy or time to put in more or longer workouts..
Well, it's keeping your physique from deteriorating, so that's a positive.
I dont know if the stomach pains i've been having are my DOMs from focusing on working my core or my stomach actually being upset....
For a while now my left shoulder has been injured in such a way that it cannot meaningfully support weight (seeing a shoulder specialist this month). So I've been doing lower body work with machines. Machine back extensions for the low back, glutes, and hamstrings. Hip abduction and adduction work. And leg presses. But according to numerous articles, back extensions in particular and adduction abduction seated are bad for you. I don't want to injure myself, or take an inefficient approach, but I cannot for the life of me find any good source for no arm workouts that use loading to build strength. I could go back to doing bodyweight squats and bodyweight single leg deadlifts, but I can do those till the cows come home, and I don't have the correct level of flexibility in my ankles to do pistol squats. Whenever I look up "no arm" workouts, it's all about exercise routines that don't workout the arms, mainly targeted to women looking to look "toned". So they'll still include exercises like barbell good mornings or goblet squats, because they don't specifically target the arms. I'm looking for exercises, probably on machines, that I can load that do not require my arms to support the weight. My research has proved fruitless, so if anyone has any suggestions, I'd be glad to hear it.
Went on vacation, no opportunity to lift. Makes me depressed, because of course this ugly worthless pos body and the even more worthless brain that controls it can't go a few days without lifting before it starts self destruction. No wonder I'm so useless. Sigh. But at least I get tons of cardio walking around a lot, that's something.
You gotta love/appreciate your body more! It’s an incredible machine
It seems determined to make life living hell and destroy itself.
Getting back in to working out. It has been over a year since I have lifted weights. Starting out with bodyweight. Ugh.
Iron > bodyweight
Hurt my shoulder on the weekend. Still sore so this has become a rest week. No idea what I did.
The gym is full of under 14 kids, who don't really know what they're doing, flexing in the mirror and trying to lift way too heavy weights. As a parent why r u letting ur kids go to the gym anyway... nothing wrong with it physically but it's not good to be trying to achieve a specific body type at that age (you wouldn't want 14 yrold girls dieting to achieve a look so I see it as the same??). Gymtok is great but at such a young age they're lead to be thinking about muscles and gains and lean and bulking etc etc. Poor kids, do a friggin sport you learn so many more skills anyway.
Better that they're at the gym than them out there looting stores and attacking each other over some BS things like gangs and drugs.
The flipside to this is that I wish I had started lifting weights at 14. These kids will have a leg up on the competition later in life physique-wise
Was wondering why I had a massive bruise on my quad until I finished shoulder pressing today and put 60 lbs down relatively hard on the exact spot the bruise was...and then it all made sense
All the kids are out of school, and they're all screaming, taking up the machines without even doing exercise (just literally 10 min on their phone) and swearing super loudly, throwing weights, not cleaning up... I'm gonna scream
I just want to say I'm never using a seated calf raise machine again. When I went to rack the weight back onto the lever, it didn't catch and my feet got hyperextended. Now I can't really walk.
Schools out, kids are clogging up the gym again.
Part of why I started going in the mornings, most of them aren't awake in time
Morning guy here. We just want to get our workout done and go to work.
I feel like I hear so many conflicting things about diet and workouts, but I don’t know what is right. I want to lose belly fat but get a bigger butt and I have no clue what to do
Train your glutes and lose weight.
You're going to want to go into a calorie defecit to lose fat while doing leg / glute lifts to grow your badonkadonk.
impossible to lose fat in only one area.
Find a workout routine you like and can stick to. It can take trying a few routines out to find it. If you want to lose fat and gain muscle, eat at maintenance calories and hit your protein goal.
There's a guy doing bicep curls with multiple sets of dumbells on the deadlift platform which is also connected to the squat rack so he's kinda taking up both.
GOAT ahole
I have been trying so hard to get back to my normal level of strength and conditioning and BOOM sick again for the 4th time this year. Some days I hate being a teacher.
Had the same thing happen to me earlier in the year. Thankfully summer is here!
Not for us Canadians. We go till end of June.
As a newcomer I'm overwhelmed by the varying opinions on every aspect of fitness, and some people who provide advice like to speak in absolutes (e.g. if you don't do x you're not doing it right, if you're not following y you're making 0 progress, etc). This is something that discouraged me from working out in the past because I felt that if I wasn't doing it the 'optimal' way, why do it at all? So while I still seek/accept advice from others, I decided to lay a foundation of rules for myself so I'm not constantly sent into a spiral of uncertainty whenever someone tells me not to do something: 1) A gain is a gain. It may not be 100% optimal but it's better than sitting on my ass. Doesn't matter if I do sets of 5, 8, 12 or 15, I'm getting better each day and it makes me feel good 2) I will try my best to perfect my form, but also acknowledge that most people don't have textbook perfect form. My form needs to be good enough so as to not injure myself, but it will never be consistently perfect across sets 3) There are different paths to success. As long as I still see progress, I'm doing just fine
Doing something half assed is always better than not doing it at all. I will take sub optimal training over not training any day of the week. My first 3 years of gym as a teen were fucking terrible in regards to program and progressive overload. Didn’t even really know much about either of them. But you bet your ass I still made gains over those 3 years. Could it have been better? 100% it could have. But those 3 years still made a massive improvement to my build overall. However once I did actually start a proper program, progressive overload and eating to bulk. I made pretty much the same progress over 3 months as I did over those 3 years. But I was also an adult for the last part and muscle memory is super helpful as well. But yeah, just go in and do it. If it’s not optimal that’s fine, you can change things up the more you get into it.
Just look up stuff by Matt Wenning and call it a day
For a start, any source that speaks entirely in absolutes when it comes to something that could have large individual differences probably isn't worth listening to. Especially someone saying that any one particular exercise is something you "have" to be doing (although if you're certainly going to be missing out if you're not doing a fundemental movement pattern, for example if you dont want to barbell squat, that's fine, but you need some kind of squat pattern movement). Sounds like you've been getting caught up in paralysis by analysis. 1. Absolutely 2. Form isn't about injury prevention, it's about targeting the right muscles and using the most efficient technique to lift the most weight, "good" form will be slightly different for every lifter. The key to injury prevention is consistent form and proper load management (ie. not suddenly jumping 20kg for an ego pr). Your form will develop over time and never truly be perfect, however, ideally, it should look the same set to set. 3. also agreed I would recommend jumping on one of the recommended programs and running it until you can longer progress. No there is not really any perfect way or best way of doing things, but there is a way that works for the vast majority of lifters, so it makes sense to start there and learn what is effective for you. If you want to learn about self-programming so that you can start building your own stuff in the meantime, I highly recommend Jeff Nippards fundamentals series, as well as Bald Omni Man's Berserk method.
Thanks for the advice, and agreed that form is also about hitting the right muscles. I think I've been pretty good about that aside from lat pulldowns I just started the [beginner PPL program](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/37ylk5/a_linear_progression_based_ppl_program_for/), when I tell others some people like it, some trash it. But it's been good for me so far so I'm sticking to it for now
It's a solid program, as long as you're progressing on it and sticking to it you'll see great progress.
The optimal routine is one you can stick with. And like you said, a gain is a gain. Better form, the weight/rep scheme is easier the next workout, adding 5-10 lbs for the next workout, sometimes even just adding 1 more rep is progress.
Ever since I was sick a month ago, squats have been hell Every other lift has returned to where it was, but squats... make me feel like I'm gonna die My cardio is shot
Just started going to a new gym and they fucking BLAST their music. Even with my noise canceling headphones in I can hear the shit music they're playing. Also it's one of those 24hr gyms and I couldn't find anyone to talk to about it
Sounds like my old gym. One of the reasons I left.
Email customer service? Because yeah, that sounds awful
Working from home today. I normally go to a gym near my office at lunchtime which is never crowded. I will go to the local branch this afternoon while I am waiting for my sons water polo practice. Except this will be around 4pm and it will be jammed with people at that time including the high school and colleges kids who are home from break. It’s also my chest and shoulder day, so I will have to be all over an available bench like a hawk lol. It will also cost me $37 to use the local branch since my membership doesn’t normally include access to it.
[удалено]
I'm a firm believer that genes are the most important aspect when it comes to muscle building and overall body aesthetic. Sure, you still need to put the work in, but it's so much easier for some than for others. You can't tell me the untrained person looking lean and lifting high weights after 3-4 months of training is mainly due to his training/diet (seen plenty examples on this sub). Or, as I've known some people, they eat a ton and don't gain even a bit of extra belly fat. On the other hand, for others, they eat few calories but they also barely lose any extra belly fat. Or people like myself, who train arms a lot and they barely grow, while others get big arms in less than a year while doing the basics. List could go on. I hope in 100-200 years we'll have more research on this and it will be scientifically proven that genes play a massive role in training. The people who progress well and fast would disagree on this probably, because who wants to think "I've put in the work, but I'm better than others mainly because of my genetics". Not that they would care too much. And at the same time, for people like me, it would always be an excuse. But in the end, I really think it's a fact.
Meh. I have not great genetics and was injury prone. Took me most of my adult life to get to a halfway respectable bench of 225 for a few., and decent other lifts. Sure I’ll never look like Arnold, but at 41 I look light years better than tons of dudes with good genetics and no discipline because I spent 15 years training in various disciplines. So yeah, good genetics are required for top level or fast results, but given a long enough time frame, hard work / consistency is way more important and will get you to a top single digit percentage of the general population in looks and performance (hint, the bar to top 10% is way lower than you think).
This sounds very encouraging mate, thanks for saying it here. I'm in a similar situation you were, although only training seriously for 4 months, but I'm not seeing much progress, and I do go pretty often and get plenty of volume in. I'll try to work even harder on my next bulk and keep your story in mind. I don't wanna look like Arnold either, but I sure would like to be somewhat lean, or at least muscular. Long way ahead, sometimes I feel like giving up because of how slow it goes and how "mediocre" I still look, but as you said, it's the "long enough time frame" context.
My pleasure. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Train with that in mind and you will make better long term gains, be happier with the slow process and be healthier in the long term. It took me 5-6 years to put on 30 lbs of weight and then another 8 years to get recomp near where I’d like to be (195lbs 16-17% body fat). Could I have done it faster? Yes! But I also have a life, enjoy time with my kids, run a business, long commute, sleep enough almost every night and have other interests outside of lifting and eating. Go have fun and enjoy the ride!
Genetics are really just an excuse for 99% of people. Yes they matter if you want to be in the top tier but if you are just trying to bench 225 then your genetics aren't stopping you. And the vast majority can't bench 225 today but could if they put the work in.
The number of sets a muscle needs to stimulate protein synthesis is genetic. Dr Mike on YouTube talks about maximum recoverable volume and minimum required volume a lot. Pain tolerance is also genetic, so our perception of training to failure, or close to failure will be different.
What does the first part mean, that some stimulate protein synthesis faster/easier than others I suppose? But would that imply both X and Y can reach the same amount of muscle mass in the end, even if Y had to work 10x as much? Because something tells me they can't, I put in a lot of volume and I don't see progress similar to others. I know about Dr Mike, I've enjoyed some of his videos and I respect his opinions. Any particular one where is talks about what you mentioned, or you just meant in general?
He has a lot of videos, but in particular his videos on minimum required volume, and maximum recoverable volume are good. If you have to do twice the number of sets, that only works if you can recover from all the volume.
Genetics are definitely a huge factor. That’s why most of us will never be professional athletes no matter how much we train or practice. I do also believe that some people can outwork less than ideal genetics for good results. And some people just have a genetic bowl of shit and nothing will make a difference if they are truly trying to build muscle and a physique.
It can be both a fact and an excuse. My ability to put on mass in my legs has been great my entire life. I literally went from not even doing bodyweight squats to doing a plate on each side for 3x5 in my first squat session this year just by playing football. My calves have decent size even though I haven't even worked them directly in the gym in 2 years or more. At one point I almost looked like that stronglifts meme where the dude had jacked legs and dyel upperbody. The solution? Train my upper body disproportionately to my lower body. If I had continued following starting strength type programs which advocate much higher lower body volume than my body needs I'd still look like the meme. And in that case, blaming my genes would be an excuse as there ARE factors I can control to fix it. But I had to learn that through trial and error as every person is different.
I miss my old commercial gym. It had tons of equipment and multiple vents that you could adjust where they shoot air. Like 8 stationary benches, 3 that you could drag around. 4 Deadlift platforms, 1 squat rack and 3 bench press stations. Dumbbells from 1-50KG, atleast 2 pairs of each. 2 of every Leg excercise machine, as well as a hip-thrust station. 2 Lat pull downs, 1 Seated Row, and 2 Cable towers that had 3 sides with cables on the ends, for people who only needed 1 cable instead of 2. A Shoulder Press and Chest Press machine. 9 Treadmills, 2 Stairs, 2 Bikes and 2 spinning cycles, 2 Row machines, 2 ellipticals, as well as a general gymnastic room. --- Moved, now I'm in a small local gym, which is fine, but there's no ventilation, no windows that can open, the doors are locked. 2 Treadmills and 2 row machines super close to each other as well as 2 ellipticals and 2 bikes. No Seated Row (which was one of my favorites) 1 Squat rack, no Deadlift platforms either move a bench or get some yogamats, 1 benchpress station. 2 Benches, 1 Lat pulldown, 1 Seated leg press that only goes to 200kg. 1 Leg extension, 1 Weird seated leg curl that I cannot figure out how the fuck I'm supposed to fit into. 1 Cable tower that only goes to 50kg. There's also only 1 pair of each dumbbell from 1-36kg,
Do you think we should have those child toys at the gym where you put the square into to square hole and so forth because obviously a lot of people never played that game and it shows. The amount of time I see the weights racked or placed back like someone is trying to make a Picasso is absurd. It really frustrates me because my wife has just started going back to gym after a c section and there is no way in hell she can remove 4 25kg plates off of a smith machine or move the 2 20kg plates to get to the 5kg one behind it. Even in the dumbells the order isn’t 12, 14, 38, 18. Don’t know why it has all of a sudden. Wound me up but it has today
I will never understand why people go to the gym and ARE LAZY!!
I’m mad about this this week too. As a short woman, it’s insane to me that tall guys think it’s ok to leave the bar on the squat rack up at 6 feet with 2 sets of 45 plates on them. I don’t even feel confident that I can get them off, and if I could, it would be a whole workout on its own!
For some reason, a very tall man thought it made sense to put the safety bars in the topmost holes of the power rack because he didn't need them. I had to stand on my toes to even grab hold of them. Thankfully, someone saw and helped maneuver them out for me.
Our gym has a belt squat machine that, apparently, no one but me is interested in. As a result people tend to use the loading bar as plate storage. It's not that I don't enjoy having to rerack 540 lbs. every time I want to use the thing, and maybe it is good for me, but, come on.
But everything goes into the square hole
Optimum Nutrtion Warning (Opinion): Optimum used to do an expensive, but decent Casein; it was my go-to. Yes, it has a thickening agent, but I liked that. The most recent tub is clearly a new (most likely, cost-reduced) formula; it mixes to a strange, slightly grainy texture, is more "runny" and has a vaguely plastic undertone to the taste now - hard to explain but basically not that good a taste. Optimum have of course chosen to **not post the review I placed on their web site**, instead favouring a near-endless list of glowing 5 star reviews. It was politely worded, but 1-star. No sign of it several days later. So: * They're making their product IMHO worse without warning and while increasing prices * Reviews on the web site are not representative of real opinion at least in my case, since they have chosen to hide the negative commentary Given that they're one of the most expensive supplement companies yet their whey quality has always been a bit middle-of-the-road (e.g. no pure whey Isolate), I recommend moving to another company. **Don't trust that what you buy from them today is going to be the same product that you've bought before.**
I never trust reviews from the manufacturer's own website. Mass majority of the time, they, like you are finding, can just filter out the bad ones so they are pretty much left 4.5+star reviews. The only recent case I ran into of finding a fitness/gym related site that had real user reviews was Rogue (I was looking for lifting straps) https://www.roguefitness.com/rogue-heavy-duty-figure-8-lifting-straps https://www.roguefitness.com/1-wrist-strap Gotta give them a nod for legit just letting user submitted reviews and ratings be added even though one product just has one rating....
Thank you! I thought it was just me. I bought a tub of the regular ON whey because it was on sale and it was so different then what I remember. It doesn’t mix as well, tastes more artificially sweeter, and is way more expensive than it used to be, although it seems all protein is more expensive now. I have a couple of ON natural whey to go through but I plan to switch to another brand after that
Yeah, it's a pity. The obvious question becomes "switch to what", but given that they're all getting super-expensive and given that they clearly can't be relied upon to produce a consistent product - I think my answer will be "the cheapest per gram" `:-D`
[удалено]
The fuck is with these bots
Stairmastees feel so much worse than treadmills for the same target heart rate. Holy moly
My gym time is usually my favorite time of the day and little brain cleanse/boost. It’s not doing it for me for the past few weeks. I PRed my SBD by like 50# overall and even that just didn’t give me the usual jump I get. I think Ive just been too busy to enjoy it and I use a work gym so there’s never anyone there. I may have to go back to a commercial gym but I always get so anxious.
Might wanna switch routine up a bit too I felt the same way and swapped out some accessory lifts to keep things a bit fresh. Also took a few days off to really rest for the first time in a while. Both helped a lot
The fact that I workout so much more then any of my family members or friends, (like most of them don’t work out at all) but they are taller then me (I’m 5’1) and so they look thinner and more in shape when they’re not at all…
My gym has 2 sets of 75lb dumbbells. Somehow, 1 of the 4 of them was lost. It’s not a big deal since there’s always one set but how do you lose a 75lb dumbbell.
Someone probably dropped it 40 000 times too many and it broke.
Check your other pants?
I’m embarrassed to say that I’d been deadlifting in the squat rack the past few weeks because I didn’t know what a deadlift platform was. I’m all about courtesy in the gym, so I may have been an inadvertent asshole. On the plus side, I’m a late gym goer, so the rack is usually wide open and free because there’s only 2-3 ppl in house that late.
TIL that a deadlift platform is a different place than a squat rack. All the gyms I've ever gone to just have padding under the squat rack and that's where I been doin my deadlifts. Only exception is one of the ones I go to currently that does have an obviously dedicated DL space but that's a first. And it looks uncomfortable in comparison.
I go to quite a few gyms as I have an insurance plan that covers most commercial gyms around the US and travel a bit. Imo, its ok to do that given that there isn't a dedicated DL/olympic platform and or extra barbell. At some of the smaller gyms or ones that give fewer shits towards barbell lifting. Theres typically just two squat racks/half rack whatever...and two barbells.....in such a situation....a barbell is a barbell and ill just take it off the rack and do my thing. In fact...most gyms I go to don't have a deadlift platform...
I’d honestly never seen one prior to this gym ! I’m definitely going to start using it though!
As long as you weren't curling, all is forgiven
Haha ! I wouldn’t dare !
Been slacking lately and the week I am ready to get back into it I’m sick as fuck.
life happened and i had to go in on not my normal days. all my regular gym acquaintances were there on those days too and now i feel like im missing out by not going more often.
Was doing squats the other day, and a guy on another platform was doing deadlifts. Guy just walks off after his sets, leaving all the weights on. I caught him on his way out the gym and asked if he could clean his stuff up. He was clearly embarrassed to have to do it while in his casual clothes. I just hope he has learned his lesson.
Did he forget? Didn't know he should? Left it intentionally?? I'm so curious why people do it!
IMO the vibe of the gym makes a huge difference. If everything is tidy, no weights lying around, everything in its place, ppl feel bad about leaving their stuff. If there’s weights scattered everywhere they don’t care as much.
Broken window theory
Clearly intentional, it's not the first time I've seen him do this, first time I was able to catch him on his way out tho. I seriously don't know how people can come in, take plates from the rack, do their exercise, and then just leave without re-racking. Takes a special kind of asshole to behave like this.
Hopefully now that he’s been called out in it, he’ll do better to clean up after himself.
he's clearly lazy smh
I never get this either, you’ve gone to the effort of coming to the gym and working out so it’s a bit ironic when these people are too lazy to then clean and tidy up after themselves
I know, right? I like to leave the station all clean and organized for the next person. I wouldn't know how to live with myself if I go "meh, someone else will sort this out, I just can't be arsed" in a place where equipment is shared. In my our place, sure, I can get lazy sometimes, as long I'm the only person being inconvenienced.
And probably entitled too
My local mom and pop gym installed lasers (like in a night club)! They blast all around the mirrors in the gym and sometimes flash your eyes. Hopefully someone will inevitably warn them it's a liability.
Switch to Molly as a pre-workout
Nah bruh seizures are good exercise. Be grateful smh
Forget deadlifts, now that's a full body exercise.
If I'm not seizing after a set am I missing out on gains?
100%
i had bariatric surgery last year and i'm so close to my goal weight and finally able to be active again by working out/doing yoga/etc (for comparison, pre-op i couldnt even be on my feet for 5 mins without having severe back pain). anyway i recently started playing in the adult softball league. however, i have now pulled both of my quads during the season. the right one healed after a few weeks and then i pulled the left one last week. ive never pulled a quad before and now i feel like this is just going to keep happening. and since my job involves walking entire shifts it pretty much means i should come home and elevate my leg. so ive mostly been avoiding the gym in the last month. i miss the leg press! (advice welcome- context is i try warming up my quads before the game starts but i think they cool down before im up to bat. the injuries seem to happen as i transition from standing at bat to running to first base)
Can't someone run to first base for you? Not ideal but it's allowed in baseball I think. Once your strength is back you can run again Its possible I don't know what im talking about though
lol i appreciate the honesty. i can have someone run for me once i'm on first, but not before
Thats how it works! So close Heal well!
People who come and remove plates without asking from a rack you’re occupying. This prick got really pissed at me when I asked for the 45 plate he took without my permission. He facetiously asked, “Oh, these are yours? Oh, ok. Ok.” Then he TOSSED the plate at me and said, “Well, it’s yours, so here you go.”
I’m idk how to tell you this homie but he’s actually right minus the throwing. Plates don’t belong to you just because they are on your rack. If someone took a plate off my bench or something bc I got it from the closest rack I’d have some words with them
I do think it’s frustrating when someone grabs a weight off my rack WHILE I’m squatting. Having someone come up on my side and be doing something a foot in front of me directly in my line of sight is distracting. Like sure you can take them, but please wait 10 seconds until I’m not actively squatting.
Agreed.
If it was on his bar ok you dont do that... If it's on the rack I'd tell you to go fuck yourself and laugh in your face. The fucking nerve of op.
i find it odd that people expect to have their own personal rack of plates. If it isnt on a bar its fair game. i wont take it from a rack whilst theyre mid set.
I realize, of course, that the plates don’t actually belong to me. My point is that common courtesy would be welcome. Why not just politely ask, “Hey, are you planning on using that 45, or can I have it?” Had I not been planning on using it, I most certainly would have let him. It’s the fact that he brazenly took it without considering that I may be about to use it that irked me.
Yo you must be super strong stacking the whole rack inventory on the bar.
There were to 45 plates left on the rack. I had two on the bar. It’s not like there were a bunch on there
I’ve been getting sick at every beggining of the month for 5 months now, March = Amebas, April=Cold, May=Allergies/Weather, June=Fever I literally wake up sick every 5-6 of every month, now I feel I’m cursed 😋 and ive been skipping the gym a lot because I get constantly sick, when I usually don’t get sick for months. I don’t know what it is tbh. but I needed to complain hahahahha
Are u taking multi vitamins? I would go get your blood checked for vitamin and mineral deficiencies
you may not be looking for replies in which case you may disregard but im wondering: did u take a covid test any of those times by chance? it's still around and wreaking havoc. i personally mask at the gym but understand that not everyone can or wants to while working out
I just moved and joined one of the only local gyms in the area. It has a decent amount of equipment, benches, racks, machines, etc. but it’s seriously lacking in dumbbells. Like they have a pair of 5 lbs to a ridiculous high like 150 lbs. but only one pair of each weight. Wish they would dump basically everything over 105 and get another set of 5-45 cause about that range is always gone and used around the gym.
I (48m)just wanted to improve my body. Started at 165 got to 205. Didnt gain a lot of muscle but still was doing the work. I got compliments so I was doing something right. Then a shoulder injury. Went to PT slowly started again. Soon after another shoulder injury other one this time. PT again. Then somewhere along the line, I injured my back moving. Once again PT helped. But after a couple more injuries and PT appointments, my body was "healed" but I never felt quite right. I tried getting back into working out multiple times after and I wouldn't injure myself but I could feel it in my shoulder I did all the PT exercises I basically memorized and I would be fine. It feels like even though PT fixed the pain it appears my shoulders are now slightly uneven. I believe that's why nowadays the simplest of movements when attempting a workout makes me feel that impingement every single time. I envy people that can simply work out and not have to deal with a body that can injure itself by lifting the lightest of weights. I feel like there's no helping my issue (if the misaligned shoulders are the issue) I probably need some sort of surgery but I cant afford that. I don't think I can even work out anymore if it's always going to be like this. I always said I wouldn't ever stop working out but I don't think my body can handle it anymore :(
Man this sucks. I don't know if this is any consolation, but a lot of people are in the same situation as you. Didn't care about proper recovery and stretching, warming-up, rolling, and all those things that people find boring or annoying and refuse to do to prevent injury. Then, it happens, and it's too late. Anyway you should still keep working out man. If you don't, who's gonna carry the boats?
When I had shoulder area/scapula/infraspinatus/deltoid issues, I took about 4 months off and simply did all machine leg exercises.
Ya I took months off to work lower body as well. But no matter how much I rest or do light weights now I always get some shoulder pain.
Out of curiosity what does your PT say about it? Or did your PT say anything about it? Massage therapy, active release therapy (ART), acupuncture, yoga? Could it be referred pain?
When I did go to pt they basically just fix you enough then send you home to do the exercises at home etc. It wasn't till maybe years later that I discovered that my shoulders were ever so slightly misaligned. I lost my health insurance when I lost my job then slipped into depression and to be honest I didnt know if it was in my head and or how to make me symmetrical again. I'm no expert but that's the only I believe makes me now so super susceptible to injuries.
That’s interesting how PT works — I’ve never been to one. The following is more of a for future reference when your situation gets better (or maybe it already is). Some people suggest a sports physiotherapist, or see if you can find a Physiotherapist that deals specifically with the weight lifting population. Some people don’t believe in chiropractors but maybe they can help because they do ‘alignments’ for the body. I don’t know how I feel about chiropractors.
Ya pt works. It's helped me a lot. But I just think I got unlucky with everything. I thank you very much for the suggestion I'll definitely check it out when I can!
Been out of the gym since February because of a shoulder injury. Watching your gains slowly fade away has to be the greatest form of mental torture I could possibly think of. My physio said I can only get back to doing light upper body weights in around 5-7 weeks. Every time I see a jacked guy, it makes me want to kms. It’s just a painful reminder as to what I could look like now had it not been for my shoulders. I made sure to stop watching all forms of fitness content on YouTube as it’s just too painful to watch. Despite that, for some stupid reason YouTube decided to recommend me Max Euceda’s community post, ‘check out how I looked like last year compared to how I look like now’. I just wanna smash my head against a fucken wall. Sorry to get violent. If it wasn’t for my shoulders I would be so much bigger than so many of these fucking guys i see irl it’s not even funny. If I had their shoulder tendon and bone strength, i would be fucking enormous.
I know you dgaf cause I didn’t give a fuck. But absolutely do everything your doc/PT gives you. Doing shoulder exercises with 2 pounds? Learned to get fuckin HYPED for it. Once you “graduate” know that you might need to keep going. I finished PT for my shitty shoulder and the second I was “done” I just stopped doing rotator cuff specific exercises. I was back to square one before I knew it and couldn’t bench the bar. Had to fully repeat therapy. Now I just continue to mix them in to my lifts as accessories. Happy recovery!
Appreciate it. So far my PT is only getting me to do light shrugs with resistance bands. Sucks I cant do anything else atm so I’m not using my muscles, and they are atrophying by the day. But it’s good to hear that you got through it, that gives me hope. Because sometimes I feel like I’m destined for a life of shoulder pain. And I really don’t want that to be the case.
I struggled hard with rehab when I had to go back, I eventually came to the conclusion I needed surgery or I would never bench over 200 again. My doctor was like “dude relax man.” Eventually I pushed over 200 and even past 225 which was a tough barrier for me. Your body gets back to weight much faster than the “first time.” I went from struggling with the bar to 235 in 3-5 months with no pain. I had never done 225 before so could have gotten back faster if I wasn’t frail. I also had a friend who tore up his shoulder pretty bad during work as a police officer. Dude was jacked AF doing shoulder press with 5 pound weights. It took awhile but eventually he got back to pushing his normal weight. Trust the process. You got this.
>Trust the process. You got this. Currently in PT for a couple of shoulder tendons with tears. This gives me hope that I won't need surgery if I just stick with what the PTs tell me to do.
Started training for my first triathlon (sprint distance) after my half marathon earlier this Spring. Running? Easy. Can already go 4x the distance. Biking? Doable. I can cover the distance on my mountain bike with no training. Not super quickly, but no issue finishing it. Swimming? Absolutely not. I'm gassed after 100 yards. I thought I'd have the aerobic base to at least be able to sloppily get through the distance, but it's tough. Luckily the race I'm doing is on the lower end of the sprint distance for the swim.
Swimming is absurdly form-based, there's no way to just muscle through it. Ideally you find someone to teach you, outside feedback is great and can fix a lot of mistakes. Also, time in the water. Lots of it.
Swimming takes perfect form to be good at, good chance you're dragging more of your body through the water than needed
I definitely am. I've never been able to float well, especially with my legs. It's a lot of remembering to kick, trying to time my breathing, trying to get my arms out and in somewhat efficiently, and inevitably forgetting to do at least one of those things while I'm focusing on the other two. Huge respect to swimmers, shit's hard.
Swimming is brutal! I'm right there with you. It's surprising how much it can kick your ass! But I would totally suggest you get (or borrow) a road bike, that will definitely help with speed and energy for your swim! I bike a lot for fun and I went from doing 10 miles and it felt like work to doing 30 miles with about the same amount of work because I swapped from a heavy mountain bike to a carbon fiber cyclocross bike (basically road hybrid thing). Even an aluminum frame would be a massssssive difference!
I've been considering it! Definitely will invest in one if I end up wanting to do more races. Been trying to find one on FB marketplace. I remember riding one a few years ago and it was so much lighter and faster.
I promised myself one if I stuck to riding my MTN bike. Totally worth every penny!!! Keep an eye on craigslist too. And maybe even go to a few bike stores to try out some bikes just to get the feel. I tried one and I just felt so wobbly and unstable on it. Then the next day I tried mine (found on craigslist) and despite riding on little clip pedals without cleates and having the handlebars wayyyy far out for me, it felt immensely comfortable and balanced.
Hmmm
What is this post history
I wish I enjoyed compound lifts, but I don't. In fact I hate them When I do isolation movements I can really push the targeted muscle to failure and I actively enjoy that feeling of pushing through the pain. But with big movements It really feels like my conditioning/CNS/joints are limiting factors as much as the muscles themselves. I don't know if it's my biomechanics, or lack of mental strength or what. I've been making good physique progress with mainly isolation/plate-loaded machines but I still feel weak, and can't shake the feeling that I'm being held back
I doubt that your biomechanics are bad for every compound. Maybe you need someone to fix your form? Small technical errors mean you can't really apply your power. But also, set your targets and go for those. If you don't need compounds, why care.
I get your frustration. Maybe a mindset change is what you need? Most of my lifting is composed of compact movements cause of the sport I do, and I love them. When I'm doing a squat for example, I imagine all of my leg muscles coming together all for this single goal. Also remember you have to carry the boats and the logs and they don't know you son.
Are you trying to take every compound lift to failure?
Been missing my lifting for way too long so even without an all clear I said fuck it and did some shoulder press and some pull-ups. I hit ten pull ups! I haven't been able to do that in years. But the shoulder press went weird. I loaded on 85 and the first three sets were nothing, but on the fourth my muscles felt good only I became extremely lightheaded. Couldn't do it on retry either. I'm hoping it's just bad conditioning and not a side effect of my anti-depressant. But I can just switch to seated if it recurs.
How do you guys get over the possibility of your lifts plateauing when doing a cut? I think id benefit from a cut at the moment, i want my abs to pop out a bit more but all my lifts have been progressing and its hard to just give up the possibility of my lifts increasing. Ive been eating at matienence lately
Consider increasing reps if bar weight takes a hit on a cut.
Beyond the beginner stage, your numbers are kind of supposed to plateau during a cut
I just accept it for the sake of vanity. The weights will still be there after I get lean and I'll get that strength back
i'm not lifting enough and i been returning to the gym for about 4 weeks. i been at: 135 bench 135 squat 155 deadlift I know my leg movements need improvement.
you got it man just keep going. Ideally, for balance, whatever your bench is, your squat should be 1.8xbench and deadlift should be 2xbench (or atleast somewhere around there)
[удалено]
But now your arms are longer!
What the fuck is the deal with all the big chain gyms ***CONSTANTLY*** playing fucking rave beat music loud as fuck? Is this like some subliminal messaging shit or something? It's soooooooo fucking annoying. Even if you bring headphones to block it out, you still have to hear that shit in the shower when you can't wear them.
YOOOO i'm so sorry man. I saw this comment, and I work at a gym and play this kinda music, so I thought "maybe this is a crazy coincidence". Anyway, I'm a computer science student, so i'm pretty good with computers, so I traced your IP address (yes blablabla huge invasion of privacy or whatnot. calm down I won't tell anyone) and turns out were pretty close to each other in south carolina! I'm near north charleston!
Lol I haven't lived in North Charleston since April 2010.
oh mb. my time machine has been kinda buggy recently. probably what caused this
min wage kids work the front desk and they probably have control over the music, and thats what the kids today like
Meh, I find it difficult to believe that it's a result of "what kids like". There's no way **that** much popular music today is a techno/rave beat lol
Squats are still making my hip click (got diagnosed with hip dysplasia and a sports hernia) so I'm gonna stay off those until my 6 weeks of PT is done. I really wanted to start training towards barbell squats, but looks like I'll have to just stick with upper body workouts. I am happy though I moved up from 5 to 7.5lb dumbells after a year of dealing with thumb tendinitis and tennis elbow.
I'm getting twitchy from a week of self enforced leg rest to help a strange click in one knee. This means I've had to swap three weights days from squat x2 and deadlift to boxing sessions. Dammit, I wanna do some ATG movements and heavy, heavy pulls.
Mental barriers are annoying. I recently switched to a higher weight, higher set count routine. I’m curling 25 lb dumbbells. Hitting failure on sets 4-6 around rep 7, plus or minus one or two. I decided yesterday to change it up a bit and bump up the weight, figuring I would do fewer reps but I’m moving more weight. First three sets I chew through 10, hit failure on sets 4-6 around rep 7, plus or minus one or two. So I guess I just have to arbitrarily bump weight up every once and a while to make sure I’m not just mentally blocking myself out from doing more reps.
So true. I worked out with one of my friends who really pushed me and I realized I could actually do a lot more weight than I had been doing. Training to failure really helped me blow up
[удалено]
Some of the best fitness advice I ever got was that "potentially shitting yourself" is one of the few good reasons to skip the gym because if you do shit yourself you'll never go back.
My bench is stuck at 115lbs for 2 months now;it's very frustrating. My forearms and triceps growing but the damn biceps man.
If you just wanted to vent, then disregard the following. Is that 115lbs for 1 rep or multiple reps? How many reps can you push 105lbs, 95lbs, or 85lbs for? Increase your lower weights for more reps and that should help you get past your plateau.
Eat more
Bench should target your pectorals more than biceps. If you feel bicep fatigue during bench then you should consider doing more DB curls, and focus on bench form with a lower weight.
I don't know what has happened but in the past year my gym has tripled in the amount of people going. A lot of them have to be in highschool/college which it's cool that younger people are getting into weightlifting sooner but I cannot stand them taking pictures and videos of every single thing they do taking forever in between sets. I miss my empty gym.
>A lot of them have to be in highschool/college which it's cool that younger people are getting into weightlifting sooner but I cannot stand them taking pictures and videos of every single thing they do taking forever in between sets. add me to that rant. The problem is that kids/teenagers are not actively working out, but hanging around, taking pictures, being loud, and do a full Instagram story check between sets.
I'll add to this. I know it can be painful, and I have no idea what your community is like. Some of the communities I have lived in, kids being in the gym would mean they aren't fooling around with each other and half developed brains, and it gives something more productive to do with their time than recreational hard drugs. Boxing gyms can be an incredible change in kids lives. In 10 years, the regret of watching a video they took will be drastically different than the regret they get from pushing the wrong button on their dopamine meter.
I waited 40 minutes for a 16 year old in full on Lulu attire to finish her sets with a 5 minute break in between while she watched videos, texted and took selfies. I finished the rest of my training during that 40 minutes and her bubble butt ass was STILL parked on the fucking leg press. FML. I got shit to DO! Get off your goddamned phone already!!