I used to take a sleep Recovery product (i cant remember what it was) it was banned in Australia, but it made me have the best sleeps of my life.

Does anyone have anything they could suggest?

Edit,

The banned suppliment was fadeout by redcon1

I get a lot forearm when doing preacher curls, why is that? Also is it safe to angle your elbow a bit outwards instead of completely straight, I find I can lift more weight this way, but it also might be cheating..

Edit: EZ Bar preachers

So I'm pretty new to the gym and on my second week of GZCLP. I'm curious what the reasoning is for no AMRAP set in the tier 2 exercises. I was under the impression muscles grow more when pushed close to failure, so why wouldn't you want to do that in the low weight/high rep sets?

Also on a slightly related note: can I do the tiers out of order? If for example the squat rack is taken, can I do my tier 2 bench press first and my tier 1 squats afterwards or is that not recommended for some reason?

I'm here seeking advice from those further along in their fitness journey than I am about the mental aspect of fitness as well as about some concrete knowledge. I'm a beginner and in the past I've had a lot of success in staying pretty consistent. 90% of anything is showing up. A golden rule for beginners is find an exercise you love doing and then you'll show up for it.

That's great advice. But there's limits, right? If you want to get strong you'll just...have to do some stuff you don't like. I can't jut play soccer all day, not least because the weather or outside forces don't permit it.

So there's another complementary approach: habit formation, and this is mostly what I rely on. In fact, I see a lot of people talk about how they hate their exercise (running and rowing especially) but they do it anyway--this abilty is inscrutable to me except in light of environmental conditions & habit. The point is that my life and environment are engineered where it's almost the path of least resistance to do my workout plan. I don't love, own, or identify with the workout program I do except by identifying with (1) the successes when I pull it off and (2) the fact that it's incidentally a part of my daily life--I identify with it the same way I identify with any other incidental habit in my life, like my commute, which I don't love or have sentimentality about otherwise. I think there is a subtle emotional cost to ragdolling yourself like this but it's more than worth it because of all of the practical benefits of exercise as well as the feeling of accomplishment.

But, the key word earlier being...almost the path of least resistance. And I think when inevitably Life Happens (TM) and the habit is broken the emotional cost of ragdolling has to be paid. Once the habit is broken and the path of least resistance is simply to not, the identification-by-habit is gone by definition bc the habit no longer exists, and the identification-by-success is gone because there's been a failure. There are a few ways I can respond to this situation, I think:

• Be forced to keep going. Extremely hard, virtually impossible, to force oneself against both the inherent difficulty of an exercise you don't love and the emotional baggage of having failed. To get back on track with the next day of the program is...very hard. Possible with a PT or gym buddy or other support but assume one doesn't have this.
• Summon up self-compassion out of thin air to void the aforementioned emotional baggage. This is basically as inscrutable to me as saying "cast a magic spell to solve the problem." What? How? Everything only works by the logic of effort and reward. God can give grace, I don't think I have that power wthin me.
• Go back a few steps in the program and ease oneself back in. Gentleness and momentum. Very sensible and I think extremely doable when there is an impetus to do anything, anything at all.
• Put a break on the current program and find other ways to move and develop a loving, joyful relationship with one's body and exercise. I think this, too, is a great idea. But because I'm a beginner, the advice I've been given is just "pick a tried-and-tested program and follow it." I don't really want to pick another effective but similarly impersonal program, that doesn't solve the ragdolling problem. But I don't just wanna flail around and do things that have no benefit to me whatsoever and risk backsliding entirely on the gainszsz I do have.

So, two questions: any responses to how I look at working out/programming, does this reflect your own perspectives earlier in your journey or now? And: how do I assess what to pick for joyful, loving, reparative, but still-effective movement? When it comes to food, there are lots of micronutrients and flavours that can guide my decision-making. When it comes to movement, is it the set of muscles I move? Is it the type of movement (squat, row, etc)? Is it the quality of the movement (power, etc)? Where do people learn this stuff?

Hey, question about using a structured program like Starting Fitness or Bigger, Leaner, Stronger. I've been working out for just under 6 months now and have a pretty standard routine (I'll post it below for feedback), but I'm looking at all these programs and the upper routines always center around bench presses.

My problem is that I don't feel like I can do a bench press routine. Last time I tried (mid-February), I was able to do 2 sets of 10 @ 90, and only got to around 4 reps on the third set before failure.

Looking at the programs, and the progression plan for each of them, I don't see how any kind of progression like what is described there is viable for me. Should I just start doing one anyway, or should I at least try to do a full 3x10 @ 90 before starting?

I mentioned I would post what my current routine is, so here it is. All exercises are 3 sets of 10, with 1-2 minute rest between sets and 3-4 minutes rest between exercises. No warmups. Progression is a 4th set until failure, and once I can do 4 sets of 10 for two weeks, I up the weights one step (5lbs for free weights, the machines go up in either 5, 10, or 15lb increments)

Day 1 (Upper): Incline Dumbell Bench Press @ 50 (25lb each arm) Seated Cable Row @ 60 Chest Fly @ 75 Lat Pulldown @ 80 Concentration Curls @ 20 per arm Tricep extension @ 40

Day 2 (Lower): Leg Curl @ 50 Leg Extensions @ 50 Leg Press @ 240 Squats @ 115

2 days cardio, usually 30-60 minutes running or cycling outdoors (weather permitting) or using treadmill/stationary bike using HR targets on my watch. Sundays I hike 1-5 miles depending on where I decide to go that week.

I read that resistance bands on me can help me get going on pull up bars. Is there a specific kind or style or size I should get for these? Thanks all.

That's exactly what I need, but he's just selling a program.

Anyone know exercises for the scapular stabilizers?

Hello,

a few weeks ago I started my training journey and I am still training, which is a record for me. I'm finishing my first cycle this week and next week and I am planning the next cycle. However, I have a lot of questions and need some help.

Context

I am a 37 yo male that did a lot of sports when I was in my teens/early 20s, but I became sedentary and my diet was shit. I had my second child in October and from October to end of December, I lost 25lbs by changing my diet which motivated me to start training.

On Youtube, I found Jeff Nippard and Renaissance Periodization which gave me a lot of information on how to change my diet (which is ongoing still, but since the end of December, I lost another 5 lbs without trying) and also a lot of information on how to train. And that is how I started weight lifting.

I have two young kids, so it was important to me that I could train at home with minimal equipment, and that is why I bought the Dumbbells only 3 days training from Renaissance Periodization. I only had to buy a set of 10lbs dumbbells (already had 5lbs) and I could start working out.

I wasn't able to properly finish the whole cycle (I'll describe why later), but I am still very proud of what I accomplished. I worked out when sleep wasn't great (won't be for a while with a 3 months old), even if time was short, or if the motivation wasn't there to begin with. I stuck with the training and diet changes, and my body started changing and it was/is a great motivator to continue.

Since I did a lot of sports that require leg muscles (Volley-Ball and Soccer), my legs are a lot stronger than my arms and my core is decent.

Training Program

The Renaissance Periodization 3 day trainings with dumbbells only is as follows : Each day is 3 exercices + 3 SuperSets of 2 exercices. 1 or 2 days rest between each Day to make sure that the body is completely healed and ready for training.

The program is a 6-weeks program. The first week is 2x sets of myo reps (5-30 reps). Each week, a new set is added. Week 6 (the last week) is deload week, so only 1 set.

Day 1:

• Medium Push-ups
• Chair Shoulder Press
• Upright rows
• One-arm rows / Goblet Squat
• Alternating Curls / Stiff-Legged DeadLift
• Crunches with top hold / Sumo DeadLift

Day 2:

• High Bent Rows
• Supinating Curls
• Paused Side Raises
• Reaching Sit-ups / Double-legged Glute Bridges
• Two-arm standing extensions / Sumo Stiff-Legged DeadLift
• Narrow Push-ups / Sumo Squats (shoulder rack)

Day 3:

• Bent Upright rows
• Sumo Squats (shoulder racks)
• Good Mornings
• Forward Lunges in place / Slow down reaching situps
• Hammer Curls / Two-Arm standing extension
• Medium Push-ups / Elbows Out bent row

My issues with the program

1. This week was my week 4 of the program and I hit a big wall. I started strong in my two last training, but halfway through the training, I was out of energy. The compound exercices + the number of sets killed me. The progression is too much for me, so I will be deloading a week sooner because I won't be able to do more progression next week. So the program gets too tough for a newbie like me, especially considering that my sleep is not great with young kids. My strength grew a lot during this cycle, but my systemic fatigue is really high right now.

2. Since my legs are stronger, I can do more reps/load, but it also means that it needs more time to heal. My legs are the limiting factor in the frequency of the trainings because they always take 2 days to heal, while my arms are usually good to go after a day of rest. I was hoping to do 3 trainings a week, but it was 3 trainings every 9 days because I had to take 2 days of rest between

3. Lots of compound exercices, which sometimes limited my reps for other exercices. For example, on day 2, after the supinating curls and Side raises, my arms are dead. So when I do the Reaching sit-ups, I am limited by my ability to raise the weights over my head. I have to stop because my arms can't hold the weight anymore, not because my abs are grilled. Same thing on Day 3 with the push in the last SuperSet. My arms are done, so I can't do a lot of push-ups.

Why I need help

I would like to start a fat loss phase soon, and I would like a sustainable training program to accompany that fat loss phase.

I plan on doing a 6 weeks phase, so I would like a 6 weeks program that will end on week 7 with a deload. The current program doesn't work for me, because of the reasons above

What equipment do I have?

• 5lbs, 10lbs and adjustable up to 20lbs dumbbels
• I bought a workout bench, without a barbell rack
• Pull-up door bar.
• Gym rings
• Movable dip bars

What exercices I don't like in the current program

• One arm rows : They feel extremly awkward. I tried different variations, they always feel out of place.

• Reaching Sit-ups with heavy arms : As I mentionned above, the limiting factor in the current program for this exercises is my arm fatigue.

• Push-up is fine, but every workout, with two days where the exercise is in the last SuperSet, it takes its toll

What kind of help do I need?

I would like to start from the program I already have, and modify it to fit my needs. I would like to put emphasis on my arms and on my core.

I would like to add exercises to build my strength to do pull-ups.

I would like to remove the pain points that I have of the current program and mix straight sets with myo reps. I am open to also try myo matchs.

I would like my weight training days to be Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The weekend is always chaos, and that way, I can have 2 days to heal on the week-end, and go harder on fridays.

Conclusion

So this is why I came here to post. My first thought was to remove the exercises I don't like, and replace them with other exercises. However, I don't know how to reorganise the sets and progression to reach my goal.

I was thinking of keeping one or two SuperSets per training days and separate the other supersets into single exercises.

I was also thinking of keeping the myoreps for the arms and core exercises and going straight sets for legs exercises.

The only thing I know for sure is that I don't want to keep the one-arm rows in the program.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for your help.

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 :)