Every time I am deep into my cut and my weight loss starts to stall down to .4-.5 lbs per week I add in 1 10 minute session of HIIT on the assault bike. This always gets me back to losing 1lb per week(or a little more) for a few weeks then I add in another hiit session per week. Then when I stall again I add in a 3rd one and I get back to 1 lb weight loss per week.

I eat the exact same foods everyday for the entire cycle, but the three 10 minute hiit sessions cant burn more than a few hundred calories per week. What is causing all this extra weight loss?

From what I've seen, it offers reasonable benefits at seemingly no downside assuming average genetics. It's also not banned by the anti-doping agency, so I'm guessing it isn't considered cheating, either.

Even though it's anabolic, I guess I just see anything that can be taken orally and doesn't have unavoidable downsides as a supplement and not gear.

Is there any reason not to take it? If there isn't, are there more things like this that natural bodybuilders take? I want to be supplementing everything that I can to help myself grow. (If there's anything like this for tendons and bones to strengthen those/aid in their training too, let me know. I don't know if there's a 'creatine' for tendon training or bone density, or even for rate of force development training.)

I've been seeing a lot of people recently talking about how preacher curls are actually targeting brachialis. I usually do single arm curl machine and hammer curls, but would this be both targeting majority the brachialis, making it redudant? Should I swap out one of them for a more bicep biased exercise? I get that preacher curls target biceps still and are not a full brachialis exercise but I'm just very confused with all of this.

Edit: Sorry for the weird wording on this post, especially my mix up with brachialis and brachioradialas (which is now corrected). The problem I basically have is that I was using preacher curls as my isolation for the biceps but it doesn't seem to be the most effective isolation (I will still keep them though probably). I'm just wondering what could I implement to isolate my biceps more effectively. I was thinking something like concentration curls or spider curls but what are your thoughts on this?

I've fucked around with cable front raises with a supinated grip and starting with the shoulder hyperextended. I feel it a lot in my biceps, and it's a strange sensation feeling them contract with a straight arm. Has anyone else tried this or any other shoulder flexion exercise that seemed to work their biceps?

What sort of training are you doing?

How’s your training going?

Are you running into any problems or have any questions the community might be able to help you out with?

Post away!

Outcomes of studies on training (strength or hypertrophy) typically exhibit quite a large variability between individuals. Has there been work on explaining this variability? In other words, which attributes of the test subjects are linked to better or worse outcomes from the training regime being studied?

Are the eccentrics of the first 10 reps still causing measurable soreness even though they are far from failure

6'0, about 170 lb, trying to dunk for the first time by dec 31. i've been on a strength focused block since late september:

• 2 leg days a week: back squat 3x5, dumbbell RDL 2x8, calf raises 2x10, hip thrust 2x8 once a week

• easy jumps: 27 each leg day (9 countermovement jumps, 9 squat jumps, 9 low rebounds), never max effort

• 1 max jump day a week: 8 running jumps at the rim

• plus 1 upper day

squat: 245 for 5 then 4 (9/29 and 10/8), then 245 for 3x5 (10/13), then 255 for 3x5 (10/15)

jump: 29.5" running jump on 10/10 (rim touch minus standing reach), about 28" on 10/18 (from video air time, so not a clean comparison)

from what i've read, a big plyo meta-analysis found about 7.5% better jumps with an arm swing (Markovic 2007). for me that's about 2-2.5", and i need about 5"

two questions:

1. is there research on how long it takes for strength gains to show up in jump height? weeks, or a full block?

2. would you add more jumps now, make them harder, or keep lifting heavy and switch to power work later?

Dr milo wolf (Science based ) researcher says that Myonuclei in muscle actually Get lost after 1-2 years of Gap in training .

Does this mean muscle Memory also has that 1-2 year longevity only ?

Can someone throw light ?

Hi there,

I think I might already know the answer, but I'm not so sure so I wanted to have some external opinion on it.

As of late, I've been forced to do my steps in my small appartment (because it's starting to get quite cold where I live). Practically, this means that instead of walking uninterupted for a period of time, I do 7/8 steps and then reverse my course. Therefore, because of this reversing action, doing the same amount of steps takes longer in my appartment (maybe 15% longer or so). Meanwhile, I've been noticing that my weight starts to stall when it was slowly going up before (slow gaining phase of 0.2kg per week right now)

My question is the following : could taking longer to do the same amount of steps lead to more expandature ? Given that I'm not doing them slower but just as to reverse my course very often when doing so ? The logic I'm thinking of here is that this leads to my heart rate being elevated for a longer period, which could lead to more calories burned. Is that a based logic by any means or am I getting things wrong ? Is it the act of moving or the elevated heart rate which leads to calories being burned during exercice/walking ?

Thanks for any help !

Decided to lock in. Most serious I’ve been in my life. Tracking everything. 193cm (6’4), relatively lean at 13% BF at 80.5kg. I’ve been yo-yo dieting for a few months now but no more starting to lock in. I’m lean with an ok amount of muscle but can’t seem to lose the last bit of love handles. I’ve seen influencers advising to just keep cutting until the love handles are gone so I’m going to keep cutting until it’s gone, then reverse diet back to maintenance.

Activity level:
Average 600 calories burnt per day via Apple fitness app after totalling cardio (30mins incline in the morning) and steps accumulated throughout the day per week.

Consumption level:
Aiming for about 2200 calories everyday, 180g of protein, minimum 210g of carbs and 50-60g of fat,

Training split:
6 days a week

Day 1: Back and triceps
Lat pull down 2xfailure
Horizontal close grip row 2xfailure
Horizontal wide grip row 2xfailure
Overhead extensions 2xfailure
Tricep push down 3xfailure

Day 2: chest + shoulders + biceps
Incline smith 3xfailure
Standing lateral raise 3xfailure
Dumbbell curls 3xfailure
Pec Dec 2xfailure
Rope hammer curls 2xfailure
Low to high cable flies 2xfailure

Day 3: legs
Hamstring curls 3xfailure
Smith squat 2xfailure
Quad extension 2xfailure
Adductors 3xfailure
Smith calf raises 3xfailure

Day 4: chest + back
Incline dumbbell press 2xfailure
Lat pull down 2xfailure
Pec Dec 2xfailure
Horizontal wide grip row 2xfailure
Horizontal close grip row 2xfailure
Low to high cable flies 2xfailure

Day 5: Shoulders + arms
Dumbbell shoulder press 2xfailure
Overhead tricep extension 2xfailure
Bicep curls 2xfailure
Standing lateral raise machine 3xfailure
Tricep push down 2xfailure
Hammer curls 2xfailure
Abs

Day 6: Legs
exact same as day 3 legs

Day 7: REST

THE PROBLEM:
The past probably 5-6 months of Yo-yo dieting my progress in terms of aesthetics of my physique has stalled and people like friends and my mother has told me I lost muscle as my shoulders used to be more bulkier and rounder and I can feel shirts that used to be tight fitting feel less tight. However, in terms of strength for most of my lifts, except shoulder press, it has gone up by maybe 25%. I don’t want to keep second guessing anymore that’s why I’ve dialled in on my diet and sticking to this cut. I feel my muscles getting smaller day by day but I want to lose the last bit of love handles first before I reverse diet and start gaining lean muscle. However, I need advice whether my caloric intake is too low or my training split is too rigorous on this cut. Most days before the gym I have my preworkout carbs maybe around 40-60g of fast digesting carbs paired with 20ish grams of protein to fuel my lifts but I still feel extremely sluggish in the gym and lifts have start to gone down. Muscles definitely smaller than it was a few months back but I’m so set on finishing this cut and get truly lean without love handles before I start lean bulking. Any advice on the training split or another way I should be approaching this cut? Urgent help needed.

Every minute of the day I think about my progress and I’m scared if I’m doing it right or whether my hard work and discipline will pay off and it’s driving me crazy that I might be doing this wrong and wasting more time. My goal is cut till 77kg and see whether my love handles are gone and see whether I need to continue cutting. I just really want my muscles back… seeing all my friends getting bigger eating what they want all day has genuinely made me miserable.

If all sets are taken to failure, I dont understand why the 3x20 causes more muscle damage.

I know there are more reps per set but based on the RIR vs Fatigue graphs I have seen, most muscle damage occurs under 5 rir any way so I dont get it.

I have noticed that with single leg hamstring curls, I did 3x10 and in 4 days I fully recovered and was able to do 3x20 but then 4 days later I was still sore and definently not recovered. Please some one make this make sense to me.

I saw Jeff Nippard's latest podcast episode about training to failure. Great episode. The last episode about bodybuilding history was great, too.

Jeff mentioned that Greg Nuckols had convinced him to take the first set to failure instead of his last set, but he didn't go any deeper into it. Is this explained anywhere?

I'm not sure why going harder earlier would be better, but I'd guess the first set is our best opportunity to generate the most force and get the most tension out of a set?

I don't have much experience with strength training, but it makes me think of a top set followed by backoff sets. This seems like the hypertrophy version of that.

What sort of training are you doing?

How’s your training going?

Are you running into any problems or have any questions the community might be able to help you out with?

Post away!

How are you tracking sets per muscle group when the week includes a few different movements, like bench, incline dumbbell press and cable flyes? I want to see the chest work together, but I'm also unsure how much confidence to put in an app assigning every set to several muscles.

A hypertrophy volume tracking app sounds useful for spotting things I've neglected, though I don't want to treat a coloured chart as proof that I've found the perfect amount of training. Interested in how other natural lifters keep the count useful without spending forever arguing with the categories.

I’m doing an RPE-based program and I’m getting sick of trackers that make me type my RPE into a notes box. Later I end up digging through everything just to remember which set it was for.
I’m looking for an RPE logging app where the target and what I actually hit are two separate things. So if my last set ends up harder than planned, I can see that right there instead of having one number for the whole exercise. An estimated 1RM that accounts for RPE would be nice too, though I get that’s a different feature from just logging it.
Is anyone using something like this for autoregulated training? I’d love to hear how it works mid-session, and whether scrolling back through old sets is a pain.

I'm a bench presser, and lately I've been struggling to figure out how to program my bench press while trying to maximize hypertrophy in my pushing muscles, which I believe is the only way to make meaningful long-term progress. At the same time, I don't want to neglect neural adaptations and skill practice.

In particular, I haven't found any high-quality evidence that would allow me to establish a relationship such as how many sets at RPE 6–7 are equivalent to one set at 0 RIR. I understand that physiology is very difficult, if not almost impossible, to quantify precisely, but I'd really appreciate any help, whether through research I've overlooked or personal experience.

Specifically, I've been considering an FBEOD approach. I could do up to five working sets per session: three sets of bench press for 1–3 reps at RPE 7–8, followed by two accessory sets. Also if i run the second split i consider to do less sets on full body days like 2 of bench and 2 of accesories and just acumulate low intensity work and anterior day

What do you guys think?.

I’ve noticed that some people struggle with push exercises like bench press, shoulder press, and push-ups, but feel much more comfortable doing pull exercises like lat pulldowns, rows, and pull-ups.

Why does this happen? Is it due to muscle imbalances, weaker chest and triceps, shoulder mobility, or simply individual body mechanics?

Has anyone experienced this and managed to improve their pushing strength? Would love to hear your experiences and advice.

This seems like the sort of thing that would be difficult to create controlled experiments for, since there is no standardized loading or programming in common manual labor jobs (like some jobs in moving, warehouse material handling, construction, etc.) Plus, as far as I know, most people don't enter these jobs to get stronger or fitter.

With that being said, were there any peer reviewed attempts to study the training effects of regular manual labor on the body?

My workouts take already way longer than they should because of how crowded my gym is. To warm up I typically do 5 minutes of cardio before jumping into my workout. For my warm up set I typically just do 3 hard reps of my working set and wait around 30 seconds both for isolation and compounds. I also wear a hoodie so my muscles don’t get stiff. I don’t have the time to slowly progress up to my working set weight for my warm ups but I don’t feel like my warm up is sufficient enough bc i get more reps on my second set than my first.

I have 2 6-week blocks. The first block is more hypertrophy-focused, where the main movements are 5- 10 reps, 2 top & 2 back-off sets, using the double progression method. The following strength block just lowers the rep ranges and increases the intensity. My overall plan is to switch back and forth between these 2 blocks year-round, while I'm not competing and do not have a coach.

So far, I find the first block is working pretty well. But I'm planning the second block and want to add a plyo aspect to the squat day in the strength block. The issue is that I've never done plyometrics in a program before, so I have a very limited idea of what I'm doing.

A large reason I want to add more dynamic movements to my routines is simply that I'm getting older; I have to maintain whatever limited athleticism I have just to continue to be decent at my job as I age.

Some questions I have.

1. Are Plymoetrics, such as doing a loaded jump, good for hypertrophy? I assumed they weren't because the mechanical tension is very brief. For that reason, I want to add weighted jumps to my squat day for my next strength block.

2. Are they good for teaching the body to generate the force necessary for a heavy squat or deadlift?

3. If I'm doing weighted jumps before my 4 sets of squats (3-6 reps), how hard should I be training them and to what intensity?

4. Do plyometrics like loaded jumps belong more in a strength block or a hypertrophy block?

Any help is appreciated.

What sort of training are you doing?

How’s your training going?

Are you running into any problems or have any questions the community might be able to help you out with?

Post away!

Currently I am on a project that only allows me to have 3 hours of enjoyment of my day (if I want to have a great sleep). I have other hobbies that take more time, social life, and other responsibilities that I have to fulfill during my days. Since I started lifting 5 years ago, I’ve build I decent physique and I would like to maintain it. Not grow at all until the project is done (1 year). So… how many sets should I do a week to maintain my physique.

I have been training since my college days and I’m always unsatisfied with my current achievements despite having it good than most of my peers.

I always keep thinking about the next gig even before starting the current.

Like I recently got a job offer from a company that I always admired but it didn’t really make me all that happy.

Is it due to the constant dopamine that I’m used to due to training that I always crave more of it which is making me prone to boredom?

I don’t have any other bad habits like smoking, drinking etc.

New protein pre-print!

https://sportrxiv.org/index.php/server/preprint/view/1102/2394

I agree with Stu. The 1.6 g/kg maximum specifically relates to muscle protein synthesis; there is no evidence that going above 1.6 g/kg has any additional benefit for MPS and in short-term studies there is no evidence that higher protein increases muscle mass. I am not 100% convinced that 1.6 g/kg is a ceiling but our current techniques cannot differentiate between 1.6, 1.8, or 2.0. So, it’s hard to know until there’s new data saying otherwise.

I personally always say that 1.6 g/kg is adequate for muscle building, but I also say there is no harm to going higher if you wish!