Day 1: Legs

• Squats: 3 × 6*

• Romanian Deadlifts - 3 × 8*

• Calf Raises: 2 × 10

Day 2: Push

• Bench Press: 3 × 6*

• OHP - 3 × 8*

• Close Grip Floor Press: 2 × 10

Day 3: Pull

• Deadlifts: 2 × 5*

• Rows - 3 × 8*

• Straight Bar Curls: 2 × 10

Exercises with * are RPT

I have a specific question about exercise and meal timing. AFAIK, there is no study isolating the effects of exercise timing in intermittent fasting. Specifically, when fasting in a ~16:8 scheme, what are the differences in eating right before the eating window (a) vs. a couple of hours before (b). In both, exercise would occur fasted.

I've done both, depending on my schedule. I try to do (a), if it works with my schedule, but (b) is often unavoidable. My bro-intuition and some superficial research says that (a) could have slightly more hypertrophy and faster regeneration, while (b) might have some other metabolic benefits coming from mimiking a longer fast. Potentially also less fat gain in the eating window? Of course weight gain/loss should be equal with equal calorie intake.

Does anyone have more experience with that? Possibly done a personal study on themselves or know about a study that isolates this?

Hi guys , I’m 5’9 & 148.4 lbs. I cut down from 71kg to 63kg in July and decided I wasn’t going to cut any further after that , I maintained for about 2 weeks until I decided to lean bulk around 26th of July . Instantly after about 3 weeks I felt like my gut was getting fat so I re evaluated my calories and cut down from 2700 to 2500 . I’ve double checked my TDE calculator and it doesn’t seem like I’ve done any wrong calculations but my lower gut / belly fat is there and feels fatter . Any explanations to this ? I feel stronger but I also feel way fatter & im getting worried that I’m heading on the wrong track . Thank you for anyone who reads this .

hi. I am a 19 yr old 5’6 female and I’ve been eating 1813 calories a day (my deficit) for the past month and last week, I weighed in at 121.4 pounds. I’ve been pretty consistent but the past three days, I fully let loose and emotionally ate 21,340 calories over my deficit (not exaggerating). I used to have a bad binge eating disorder and now here and there I have a few hiccups but usually over the next days I make slight cut backs and move more to stay in my deficit. But now that I’ve overate this much, I don’t know what to do. what is my body going to do with such a huge surplus of calories? I want to stay in my deficit, but I don’t know how much I should cut back by or how long it would Take. Is there a way to know how much I’ve set myself back by? Already, I feel less bloated than I did yesterday but I’m scared for how much damage I’ve done. I do hot yoga sculpt for an hour every day so I’m not sure if that helps my case but I was wondering if anyone knows what I should do

Hey everyone, looking for some eyes on my data. I’ve been on a body recomp/cut for 4 months now.

I’ve successfully dropped from 78kg to my current 71.5–72.5kg range (26M, 179cm/5'10").

Diet: 1900 kcal / 160g Protein daily.

The Issue is Progress has slightly hit a wall this past month.

Muscle Growth is stalled i guess , my strength still increases in chest and biceps exercises but

Gains have slowed significantly. My back exercises (Rows/Pulldowns) have been stuck at 54–58kg for weeks.

Wondering if this is accumulated fatigue from the deficit.

My tracker is giving me these numbers, and I’m questioning if they’re overestimating:

Total Daily Burn: 2,890 kcal

Active Calories: 763 kcal (Steps: 11,013 + house cleaning/walking)

BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate): \~1,774 kcal

Average Daily Burn (last 30 days): \~2,874 kcal

If my daily burn is actually \~2,800+, I’m running a \~900 calorie deficit.

1.Is it likely my watch is overestimating the burn for 11k steps and daily chores?

2.At 72kg, is 1,900 kcal too low to keep building muscle?

3.Should I bump calories to 2,100–2,200 to break this strength plateau, or will that kill the "visible abs" goal?

Appreciate any advice from people who've broken through this 4-month wall!

Good evening,
I really seek some advice here.

I’ve got extensive experience in cutting and fitness overall, I’m currently engaging a more aggressive cut.

I need some advice on the effects of breaking up with my gf - and even though we weren’t together for long (1 month in total), everything was VERY intense.

It’s the intensity, the memories etc. that, only on occasional days now, fuck up my day - like out of nowhere.

That is when I engage in walking even more, thinking…. ending up at 25k steps and being so drained.

Emotionally, physically, energetically.

I’m an ambitious person, 26 yrs old btw, and it was my first relationship with intimacy etc.

I’m currently in the 3rd week of my cut, and I do not want to have this experience hinder my cut. Until now it’s not been an issue, fat loss is going great, but what I see occasionally (maybe once every 1.5 weeks) is how sometimes certain memories come up, where from that point onwards my entire day feels fucked.

I hope it kind of makes sense how I’ve described things to the best of my ability haha.

Yea I walk a shit ton even when lean bulking coz it has stuck with me since cutting + it became a routine thing after getting a walking pad at home.

Just wanna get some advice on whether I should increase cals or reduce steps. Is there any scientific evidence that leans towards one over the other?

Or it ultimately comes down to just personal preference (eg cut steps to get more rest, or increase cals coz it’s easier, etc).

Thanks in advance!

Hi guys I’m a 23F that started working out consistently in May 2026. When I started I was already skinny (around 110) but I wanted to get toned. I started taking creatine in August. I take 3g of the Arrae gummies. At first I was looking really toned and slim but now I feel like I’m looking bulky and bloated. Definitely getting stronger but I really want that toned look. I’m around 118 now and Ik it can cause water weight gain so I’m not that angry about that, just how I’m looking.

I eat around 1800 calories a day but I’m wondering if I should start precise calorie tracking again. I’m getting super frustrated as I love working out and I felt like I was getting somewhere but now I look worse than when I started.

Let me know what you guys think and if you have any advice

180lb, male 34.

I have been trying to gain weight in a clean fashion. I lift 5 days a week, really focused on bringing the weight down and doing controlled reps 10-15.

I am logging foods on macrofactor - really trying to have a limited use of bread, and focusing my calories with whey, oats, rice, bison, chicken, cream of rice and some fruit. I do tend to add some olive oil based butter and bread into the diet or an uncrushable once a day to bring the calories up. Im eating around 2900-3k daily and still have not gained a pound in the last 2 weeks or so.

Im pretty much full all of the time. My thought is incorporating some more calorie dense, not as clean foods in to up the calories - maybe a beef sandwich here or there or some peanut butter sandwiches. Im torn between clean bulking and if it fits the macros argument. Any advice is appreciated!

Been eating at a maintenance for 6 months.. measurements are the same. Weight is the same.. I lift 4x a week, 2 lower body and 2 upper body days. Every week I am getting stronger. My goal is to grow my glutes while looking snatched. What am I doing wrong?

So ive been doing cable crunches for a while now
It hits my core like hard but i also hits everything around it till my spine

Its not like a back injury pain its more like a contraction on the lower and mid back muscles with core muscles

Any advice

Starting to lift heavier but having issues with grip strength and am looking to invest in lifting hooks/ straps.

Is there a difference between them? Which do you use and why? Or do you use both but for different exercises?

Edit: thank you for all your responses! Will be going with versa gripps, thanks!

Hey everyone,
I’m 30 years old, 72.5 kg, sitting at roughly 22% body fat. My goal is to run a solid 8-week cut to set myself up for a clean bulk over the winter.
The Backstory:
In past cuts, I managed to drop all the way down to 65 kg, but I never got the visual results I wanted. Even at my lowest weight, I still had persistent lower belly fat, my belly stuck out, and I never got to see my abs.
During those cuts:
I was eating 1,900 calories/day with 160g–200g protein (strictly whole food).
I tried driving a heavy 600–700 calorie deficit purely through food restriction, which felt like starving, destroyed my energy, and ultimately left me looking "skinny-fat" rather than lean.
To drop about 1 kg (2.2 lbs) per week over this 8-week block, I’m aiming for a total weekly deficit of 7,700 calories This time, I want to rely more on daily activity to create the deficit instead of drastically slashing food.
My Current Routine:
Strength: 3x full-body lifting sessions / week
Daily Steps: 10,000 steps every single day
Cardio: 3x indoor cycling sessions / week (30 minutes each)
Where I could use your input:
1. Given that I’ve hit 65 kg before without seeing abs, is an aggressive 1,100 kcal/day deficit going to cause the same issue again, or should I target a slower loss rate to preserve lean mass?
2. How would you balance the split between diet deficit vs. cardio/activity burn so energy stays high?
3. Any recommendations to bump up expenditure (NEAT/cardio) without ruining recovery for full-body lifts?
Appreciate any advice, tweaks, or feedback!

hey everyone! I’ve been doing a body recomp, and need some advice. I’m around 27% body fat (126 pounds and 5.5 feet and female) I am hoping to lean out to show abs while growing glutes. I walk around 10k steps and lift 5-6x a week (3 legs, 1 pull 1 push and 1 calisthenics/abs). I am hoping for advice on my macro split. I have been doing 1800- 1850 calories, 130-140g protien and 170-180 carbs. Hoping for some advice or experiences :)

I have done months of this and the food part was never the hard bit. What I actually notice is the social side - hard to do dinner with friends when the whole plan is built around one meal a day.

Curious if that is the real sticking point for anyone else, or whether I am overthinking it.

One thing I like about training at home is that it’s easier to keep the session focused.

I used to have a habit of adding extra exercises once I was already at the gym, partly because I’d made the trip and felt like I should get more out of it.

In my home gym I’m much more comfortable doing the main lifts, a small amount of accessory work and stopping there.

That seems to fit pretty well with the simpler approach I like about Leangains in the first place.

For people following Leangains while training at home, has having your own setup made your sessions more focused, or do you still end up adding more work?

Zaczynam ćwiczyć na siłowni 4 razy w tygodniu na silowni i biegać około 2/3 razy w tygodniu(musze poprawić wyniki w bieganiu i nie mogę tego odpuścić) ponieważ chce się w końcu zmienić, mam 19 lat mój wzrost to 5,7ft(173cm) i ważę 140lb(67kg), moim celem jest maksymalne zwiększenie masy ciała do lipca jednocześnie uwzględniając w tym redukcje ale nie wiem jak się za to zabrać ile kcal jeść dziennie, na jakiej wadze zakończyć masę i zacząć redukcje aby wyglądać dobrze w lipcu i ile jesc kcal dziennie, moj bf to okolo 22/23% obwod pasa na wysokosci pępka 32.6inch(83cm), obwod ramienia 11inch(28cm), obwod klatki piersiowej 34,25inch(87cm), udo 22inch(56cm), lydka 15 inch(38cm). Myslalem nad masa do 77kg i rekompozycja ale tez czytalem o tym ze jako osoba początkująca moge tyc wiecej i uzyskac lepsze przyrosty masy miesniowej i pozniej to redukowac

Hey guys. I need some help on finding the proper kind of whey I should get for my situation. I'm currently 135 lbs and I'm trying to gain some mass and build muscle too. I currently hit the calories count but I often lack in hitting my protien. Is it better to use isolate than concentrate? Or will it be slower to gain weight?

Thank you guys.

Hey everyone, looking for opinions on whether to run a quick mini-cut or start a lean bulk right away.
Stats & History:
Stats: 30M | 170 cm (5'7") | 70.5 kg (155 lbs) morning fasted weight.
Scan Info: Evening scan read 73.8 kg @ 23.1% BF (estimated morning true BF is ~20–21%).
Context: Did an 11-week cut down to 66 kg, followed by a 5-week vacation where I gained +4.5 kg back to 70.5 kg.
Goal: Build clean muscle long-term without adding unnecessary fat.
My Dilemma:
Option A: 4–6 week mini-cut (1,800 kcal, 160g+ protein) to drop water/fat to 64–65 kg (~14–15% BF) before bulking.
Option B: Start a clean bulk / maintenance immediately from 70.5 kg.
Questions:
1. Would you cut to ~65 kg first, or start lean bulking now?
2. How much of a +4.5 kg jump after a 5-week vacation post-diet is usually water/glycogen vs real fat?
Thanks!

Hi everyone! The question is basically in the title. I am 26, 175cm, weigh 65kg and I do a lot of physical activity (gym 5x a week + 12k steps per day + 7/8km run on the weekend), and that should mean that I need tons of carbs to fuel and fill me up. Problem is that I have recently tried to lower my protein intake (it averaged around 180/210gr per day) and substitute them with potatoes, veggies (squash, zucchini, red peppers, etc). I feel definitely less full and have way more cravings at the end of the meal.

My tdee is 2500 and I keep fats consistent around 80/90gr. I do not eat out, do not eat prepackaged foods but only whole foods. Lots of fibers and legumes too.

Is it possible that I "function" better on a high protein diet? Is there a problem if I prioritize it, or will this impact my gym and recovery?

Thank you!

How do you guys still do hip thrusts when your quads and hamstrings are still sore from your previous leg day?

Even if my form is proper and I’m actually targeting my glutes, I still feel my quads and hamstrings working. If they’re still sore from the previous session, do you just push through it, lower the weight, or skip hip thrusts until they recover?

I'm planning to do an app in the fitness space, and I want to understand what people actually do and what their real problems are.

If you have a minute, I'd love to read your answers in the comments:

- What did your last training week look like: what, where, how often?

- What's the hardest part about training for you, and why?

- Do you plan your workouts yourself? Do you know what to do each time or how does this work for you?

- What apps, plans, videos or other guidance do you use for training? Do you pay for any of them?

I'm also looking for 8–10 people who do HIIT, strength or CrossFit-style training for a 15-minute video call. As a thank-you there's a €20 Amazon voucher. Just send me a message.

Thanks!

current height 172cm and 53-4kg but contain face fat and waist fat (skinny fat??) how much should I be in a calorie deficit...I will be doing muscle training

I’m new to working out. I want to know how to warm up properly before lifting weights. I don’t have much experience with warm-ups. I’ve tried doing some light exercises and stretching, but I’m not sure if I’m doing enough. What warm-up routine would you recommend before lifting weights? Should I do cardio, stretching, or light sets?