So I am thinking of deloading this week as I have been plateauing on my lifts, especially the pulling ones, and definitely feeling a bit fatigued, recovery times don’t seem to be great either, especially on legs, however I also have been feeling under the weather lately, and my finals are approaching as well, so I am a bit busy as well, so I was wondering whether a one week deload will be effective under these conditions, or maybe should i extend it to two, or even take some extra rest days (which I don’t like tbh, the gym kinda keeps the rhythm).

I used to use MyFitnessPal but its pop up ads are particularly annoying and paying $20 for an ad free version doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Hello,

I am looking for a place where I can find alternative exercises of my training plan.

I am slowly planning my next workout cycle and I would like to replace some exercises that I don't like.

And I would also like to learn what muscles the exercises on plan actually do. I know the targetted muscle, but I would also like to know the secondary muscles that are worked as well.

Thanks

You might semi supinate your deadlift grip (one hand over, one under) for comfort & endurance at heavier weights. I believe some competitions even mandate this for safety reasons.

Those of you who semi grip, do you ever alternate? If so, have you identified any benefits in doing so?

A friend brought this up with me a couple months ago. It was a reasonable ask, and yet I've never thought to switch hands. I try to only use a semi grip when necessary (heavier sets, fewer reps).

I've recently started experimenting with switching it around for a few higher volume sets. Is there any benefit from switching long term, or session to session?

I do lying lateral raises because I find it impossible to progress with just standing lateral raises, I do occasionally include them, however a thing is that I also feel a lot of traps when I am doing them (the lying version), so how can I minimize it? The cable machine at my gym has 5kg increments which is excessive for this purpose, and I currently can’t use them. So is there way to reduce my trap activity?

Also I follow PHAT, that means I do back on one day, and proceed with legs on the next day, however I also feel a lot of trap activation in my RDL’s, will this lead to overtraining my traps since all days now in my split use the traps in some kind of way (U,L,R,P,P,L)

Hello,

I made the leap 2 weeks ago to start resistance training and be in better health overall.

I lost 25 pounds since October and it motivated me to start training as well. So here I am.

I bought the Renaissance Periodization 3 days full body workout with dumbbells only to start my journey. I have young kids, so starting at home is giving me the best chance to stick to a program.

With that said, over the 2 weeks, a few questions popped up and I don't know the terminology well enough to answer them and my google skills weren't good enough, so I am trying my luck here.

1. I have been sedentary for a long while, even though I did a lot of sport when I was younger. Mainly competitive volley ball, so my legs are decently strong still, but my upper body, not so much. For many upper body exercises I do, it feels like my strength is really uneven, and different muscles are activated, though I make sure that the targeted muscle for the exercise is activated too. Should I stick to the same weight I use if I can reach the targeted reps with good technique (to the best of my knowledge)? Or should I drop the weight a little bit until I am strong enough?

2. The program calls for myo reps. Each week, a new set is added. For each exercise, the target is between 5-30 reps. Does that mean that I should target at least 5 reps for each sets? Or if I do, let's say, 7-5-3 reps, is that good enough? Should I drop down some dumbbells weight until I can do all the sets to at least 5 reps? For push ups particularly, I don't use a dumbbell, so I could switch to knee push ups, but my first two sets are over 5 reps, but the subsequent sets are under 5.

3. Today while training, I ramped up intensity a little bit and really pushed myself more than before. For certain exercises, even though my targeted muscle wasn't burning and feeling exhausted, I couldn't do more reps and the overall part that was trained was shaky after the set.

For example, I did some sumo squats. It didn't feel like my quads were toasted, but I could not push more and my legs really started to shake (it went away after a bit of rest). Is that a good/okay thing? Or does that mean I pushed myself too much and other parts of my legs weren't strong enough for what I tried? After my training, it felt like my knees worked a lot, so I think this is what limited my sumo squats.

I am aware that other muscles are solicited when doing an exercise, but I feel like the targeted muscle should do most of the work.

Thank you for your time.

I swear this hit a muscle that I don't think I've ever activated (the teres minor).

i don't have a band so I used a rope. I arranged the rope so it went out of my pinkies and I focused on like rotating it out.

Play around with how far you have your arms out. I found it hit great wider out.

So I have been in a bit of a research about how much volume is necessary when you are training with ‘proper intensity’ because I am having trouble progressing on my lifts on PHAT hypertrophy program (I am on a bulk) and I am afraid all weight I am gaining is fat, and a lot of people claim that high intensity low volume is much better

However I found this comment on one of max euceda’s videos and I wonder if this is proven in any way “High reps can get you closer to failure because the division of effort per rep is finer. So after "failure" you may not have the energy to lift 100kg but you'd still have the energy left to do 90kg. The point of lowering reps is because other muscles, heart, lungs and nerves can tire before the target muscle”

Specifically because this ‘energy division per rep is finer’ makes a lot of sense, as the rep ranges on hypertrophy days on PHAT constantly increase with each exercise and your effort is divided finely among all the 12-14 sets as they contain a high amount of reps

So I think doing 4 sets of 8-12 reps of DB press would have a pretty similar effect as doing 3 sets of 6-8 reps assuming all were taken to failure, so this could be a pretty important conclusion if you have limited equipment, for example I only have dumbells with increments of 5kg (11lbs) so it’s somewhat hard for me to stick to a very specific rep range on quite a few of my exercises

I was wondering if someone here more knowledgeable could provide their opinion on this

You often see people in fitness mention going through a cut/bulk cycle, or mention one, with plans to follow up with the other. Why is it that cutting and bulking so often happen in cycles, rather than said person just doing both at once, until they hit their desired weight?

I've been training my crush grip strength for approx. four months now. After purchasing my first inexpensive adjustable hand gripper I couldn't even close its maximum setting of 60 kg/~132 lb. Fortunately, a couple months ago I saw great improvement and 60 kg is a walk in the park now.

Then I decided to purchase three grippers similar to the CoC grippers:

• 68 kg/~150 lb (similar to CoC no. 1)
• 90 kg/~200 lb (similar to CoC no. 2)
• 112 kg/~250 lb (sort of bridge between CoC no. 2.5 and 3)

Obviously, I am unable to close the last one. Though I can close the 90 kg. Thing is, I feel like I've hit a plateau. Progress has been tremendously slow and some days I can't even close the 90 kg. I'd love it if I could close the 112 kg this year. Just unsure what it takes to get there.

Also, online I saw that the avg. male grip strength my age is 45.36 kg/100 lb. That'd mean my grip strength is above avg. Still, I cannot help but think that 90 kg is pretty mid. I want to improve, but I don't know how.

Does anyone have experience in how to see the best results? How to move away from the 90 kg and get to the goal of 112 kg?

TLDR; Been training crush grip strength for four months. Saw great progress first couple of months, but have now plateaued at 90 kg/~200 lb. Want to close a 112 kg/~250 lb this year but not sure how and whether that's even realistic.

I was doing incline smith press and seem to have hurt my front delt in the middle of set, It wasn’t sharp or sudden but I just kinda noticed it, and i made a chump move and decided to finish the set, instead of racking it immediately, i skipped overhead press and lateral raises, I did some cable flies which didn’t seem to have any affect

Now the pain isn’t sharp, I have full range of motion, and the pain is only there when I place some weight on shoulders, so ig it isn’t really serious but should I still continue my upper body workouts and skip presses? Or should I take a week off and only do lower body?

Hi together,

recently (over the last 6 months) I lost about 13 kgs, my "fat loss" feels like it has been stalling a bit and I've been in a caloric deficit for quite a while. Albeit a comfortable deficit but according to my calculations still around 500 kcal.

I purchased this 10kg weighted vest and have been wearing it during normal daily activities (walking, working at a standing desk etc.). Only for a few hours so far. It's comfortable enough to wear it prolonged times, and I'm looking forward to my first hike and some light runs with it.

What are your experiences with weighted vests? How do you use them? How do you incorporate them into everyday live without it being weird?

I took a new route on the way back and it added .70 or miles to it so actual 15mi was completed in 3hr 24m. After I saw the 15 on my watch I said screw it I'm walking the rest .

Hi all, I've been lifting for about half a year and following 5/3/1 for most of that time. I will be traveling a lot for a 6-month period; at best I will have sporadic access to hotel gyms. My goal during this time is to maintain strength and work on cardio/conditioning.

And so, I am thinking that I should probably switch to bodyweight exercises, starting with the routine from Hybrid Calisthenics. I am not very strong (all 5/3/1 training maxes are 100lb or less) so I think I can make some progress with only bodyweight. When I do get access to dumbbells, I can do many of the movements weighted.

Are there any other/better options that I may be overlooking, both for the type of exercise (calisthenics) and the specific routine?

Any advice would be appreciated. TIA :)

The free brunch is every week

I started going to the gym two months ago, and had always trouble that my underarms are already tired before my back really gets going. So for my birthday my buddy created the "Bulking Starterpack" comprised of wristbands, pulling aids, nuts, peanut butter, protein bars and biscuits. May the fun begin

A few yall probably remember me asking about runners knee or pain due to running, well I'm getting better at it yall.

This was the first time I had to actually take water and fuel with me. Sipping on a camelpak every 15 mins or so, and then fuel every hour.

The run itself wasn't too bad, I started to develop a blister on the ball of my foot but I think my right knee is collapsing when I get tired.

Anyways, my dream of running a marathon is getting closer.

So i have been on cut for like 8 months at this point and i have been progressing very litte (I have tried a lot of different styles PPL, bro splits and experimenting with weight and reps)

However, there’s something i have noticed is that in bicep curls, i will not progress until i forcefully add weight and perform like 4-5 reps for a high no. Of sets (4-5), i am usually able to get them up-to 10-12 reps after 3-4 weeks (i follow 6 day PPL)

However, i have also read that doing heavy sets of accessories can damage your joints, i do barbell and dumbbell curls and never felt like there was any tension on my joints, and my back remains quite straight and elbows locked

So should i stop doing these kind of curls and wait until i can bulk? Or should i keep doing this if it works for me

I have also been in the gym for 8 months if that is of any use

Edit; not in the gym but have been hitting the gym ⚆ _ ⚆

I get workout euphoria from the group fitness classes at the boxing gym.

How do you get that feeling from a workout?

Basically, it's been five days and I'm unable to even sit in a chair without a struggle. I didn't go too hard, mainly squats and leg press. I didn't think it would take this long to recover considering I still run 4 times a week. Is it normal to be this sore and what can I do to help it?

I really really want to get back in there and work on my squat form but I can't even get close to parallel right now due to the soreness

Edit* side note I went from an extremely sedentary lifestyle to a very active one about 6 months ago, starting with running but now my legs are paying the price of no strength training. So it may be that I'm just so new to the workouts