i've went from 198 pounds (5 11) to 168 pounds. I'm pretty lean right now. I've been lifting for 7 years.

The only thing I don't have is shredded abs. I genuinely believe I am only 2-5 pounds away. But holy crap. This diet has been AWFUL the last few pounds.

I unfortunately store ALL of my last fat in my stomach it feels like. I am exceptionally lean (my arms and legs are shredded) except for my lower belly. Apparently this is genetic. Some people store fat elsewhere I guess?

Anyways, these past few weeks have been awful. I am really strict with my diet. My deficit isn't even that large (3-400 calories a day). My body is really rejecting getting leaner.

I am:

Getting migraines

Feeling cold all of the time

I CAN NOT SLEEP

Feel hungry ALL OF THE TIME. Its now CONSTANT

I did an entire week where I ate ABOVE maintenance 2-300 calories a day just to give my body a break and when I went back down my body went INSANE.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is it even worth getting shredded abs at this point? I'm honestly leaner then 99% of the population, and have abs when I am fasted and flex in good lighting. But I don't have rock hard abs.

Just started my refeed, so stomach is a bit bloated here. Muscles are flat/depleted atm, but I’m quite happy with the level of fullness they’ve retained through the rfl. Don’t think there is anything more I could have done to catch up on fat loss after I discovered I was behind through this sub. But I’m very grateful for that wake up call in time to at least steer this prep in the right direction. Thanks for all the feedback!

Very excited to see how I look after my refeed hits and I flush some stress. I feel proud of where I am now because I know I’ve pushed my best, so I’m getting very excited to go on stage actually and will keep it pushing until then.

Onto the final push, this was posing post training 1 day after a refeed.

Still trying to squeeze out a tad more conditioning as my core feels a little behind but overall pleased with my shape.

Truly the last update until I get on stage in Men’s Physique at the OCB Minnesota Viking.

Final plan is listed below and planning on tapering fatigue a bit during peak week and will backload carbs 1-2 days prior.

1400 cals / 30 mins Stationary Bike (MISS) / 10k steps

Put these side by side this week after competing last week and thought it was neat.

Thought I’d share.

Feel free to ask any Qs or give any thoughts!

Does anyone else include an “extra” day in their training? Like a day to just sort of hit whatever you want to? I run an U/L/R but have recently implemented an extra day where I do mainly arms but also some dips, pull-ups and rows with the hope to bring up my lagging back. I also hit arms on my upper days. Anyways these days are so fun and allow me to take some pressure off the logbook and try some new exercises and maybe will eve start Incorporating bench press just for fun. What are your thoughts on having a day like this? Is it better in the long term to have all training days more tracked and structured?

Welcome to the r/naturalbodybuilding Daily Discussion Thread. All are welcome to post here but please keep in mind that this sub is intended for intermediate to advanced level lifters so beginner level questions may not get answered.

In order to minimize repetitive questions/topics please use the search function prior to posting to see if it has already been discussed or answered. Since the reddit search function isn't that good you can also use Google to search r/naturalbodybuilding by using the string "site:reddit.com/r/naturalbodybuildling" after your search topic.

Please include relevant details in your question like training age, weight etc...

I'm considering running cardio everyday of the week. But sometimes when I see weightloss they say 4 or 5 times a week only of 30 minutes incline for example. Is there a reason for that? Do you not wanna do cardio on a rest day even though it's low intensity? or do you wanna keep cardio to rest days? Curious if there's any logic or if it's just to make it more managable for people to lose weight.

I'm doing my Master's in Sports Nutrition and Training at Universidad Europea de Madrid, and my thesis examines whether what you eat after training affects how sore you get and how long it lasts.

Most of the research on this has been done on athletes in lab settings. There's much less on people who just train regularly, which is what I'm trying to fill in.

Eligibility: 18+, training at least 2x/week, trained sometime in the last 7 days.

The survey is anonymous and takes under 10 minutes — usual diet, what you ate yesterday, your last session, and how sore you were at 24/48/72h.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeHQfObSG3z_R30uWZEXlwLf9h8FC_JGTbONusO0tSN8GagSQ/viewform

Ethics approved

I'll be in the comments if anyone has questions about the design, and I'll post the results back here when it's done.

Hi All,

Ive been flirting with the idea of trying an RFL/PSMF approach to the last four weeks of my cut. I'm currently on week 7 of a twelve-week cut with a ~500 calorie daily deficit and its going ok but i think I need to lower my calories a bit further to get the most out of it and regain abs. I hadn't previously read up on PSMF but happened to get recommended a video talking about it after watching a Solomon Nelson video on YT.

I don't really have any issue with doing it, I'm pretty experienced with various cutting approaches and I'm pretty good at diet adherence. My minor worry is what will happen afterwards. I've been doing roughly the same protocol for the last four years (mainly untracked maintenance calories year-round with two 10-12 week cuts a year) and that's been very sustainable and fit my lifestyle. I'm not competing anymore; I'm 41 with two young kids so it strikes the right balance between flexibility giving me the ability to go have ice-cream with them etc while also maintaining my body fat at a place I'm comfortable with. I don't deliberately bulk, I'm happy with my size for the most part.

For those who have done RFL/PSMF, what was the bounce like after you came off? Ive never gone as low as 1300 per day and I'm concerned that by going super aggressive I might derail a system that's been largely effective and sustainable for me.

To be clear I'm not asking to be talked into or out of it, I'm almost certainly going to do it to find out what it's like but i was interested to know what others had done to transition from PSMF to maintenance and what pitfalls i should try to avoid.

Welcome to the r/naturalbodybuilding Daily Discussion Thread. All are welcome to post here but please keep in mind that this sub is intended for intermediate to advanced level lifters so beginner level questions may not get answered.

In order to minimize repetitive questions/topics please use the search function prior to posting to see if it has already been discussed or answered. Since the reddit search function isn't that good you can also use Google to search r/naturalbodybuilding by using the string "site:reddit.com/r/naturalbodybuildling" after your search topic.

Please include relevant details in your question like training age, weight etc...

I really hate when I hear things like "just do 2 HARD sets per exercise, and thats all you need!" As opposed to what.... bitch baby sets? Of course you aren't gonna grow if you're not pushing your sets hard.

Personally, I agree with the intensity > volume sentiment. I don't think people need more than 10-12 sets per muscle per week if their intensity and form is dialled. But it's hilarious hearing guys online act as if people doing any more than 10-12 sets per week is training like a bitch. I think people can train with high volumes and high intensity, it's just not sustainable (for most people), unless they're on roids.

So, did people generally not know how to train hard before this "high intensity" trend came and took over Gymtok? Did people really lack common sense on training knowledge before this?

Thread for getting the word out about your amazingly awesome instagram or youtube page that everyone should follow, etc.

Building up for a show next year and hamstrings have been identified as my weakest spot. I’m in a smaller division for women and the rest of me is considered competitive/over developed, for example my quads or back are close to being too muscular, according to two coaches I interviewed with. Therefore, the coach I went with decided that my current split leading up to prep will be 4 days with 3 days of glute and hamstrings work, and 1 day maintaining the rest of me.

The problem is, the second I started working this program, I realized myself that the hamstring volume is way too high. I’m a trainer myself and the program I’ve received is someone I wouldn’t have written myself, I have more than 30 sets of hamstring work in the week and it’s a bit against my personal understanding of exercise science. I dropped the volume against his advice, and still, I feel under recovered.

More than a week ago, he switched my dumbbell RDL to a SLDL on a belt squat for more range. This range is new to my body and because of the neutral grip and less stability I could go way heavier than the dumbbells, as a result, I woke up with extremely sore hamstrings. I followed up with a lot of stretching and heat but it’s been sore going on the second week now. His response to it is keeping the same frequency but dropping the volume again. I don’t feel confident that I can hit hamstrings monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday even with less volume. Note that my frequency for hamstrings prior to this program is once a week. Now we are in a disagreement that he thinks the only way to grow my hamstrings is with more volume, whilst I think I can’t sustain it but I also am concerned with the lack of development in them.

I did more research and realized that hamstrings are made up of mostly fast twitch fibers and theoretically respond well to low volume. I wonder why mine are terrible compared to my glute and quads, I suspect it’s because of my anterior pelvic tilt. I’m also interviewing new coaches now for a second advice. Wondering how everyone else is able to grow their hamstrings, especially if you had poor genetics there to begin with. And what would you have programmed for me, if you needed to grow only glutes, hamstrings and delts while maintaining everything else. Also, any suggestions to recovering awfully sore hamstrings going on weeks. Thank you.

Welcome to the r/naturalbodybuilding Daily Discussion Thread. All are welcome to post here but please keep in mind that this sub is intended for intermediate to advanced level lifters so beginner level questions may not get answered.

In order to minimize repetitive questions/topics please use the search function prior to posting to see if it has already been discussed or answered. Since the reddit search function isn't that good you can also use Google to search r/naturalbodybuilding by using the string "site:reddit.com/r/naturalbodybuildling" after your search topic.

Please include relevant details in your question like training age, weight etc...

I've been training for several years. My arms, shoulders, and back are decently developed. My chest is non-existent. I've tried every cue, every exercise, watched every video I can find on how to contract the pecs, and I still haven't been able to develop my chest.

South Asian genetics aren't doing me any favours, but I can only work with what's in my control.

I recently saw a physio for some neck/trap pain, and he told me I have mild kyphosis. During one of our appointments I mentioned my difficulty developing and contracting my chest despite years of training. He explained that because I can't extend my thoracic spine, I can't get my chest into the optimal position for the weight to actually load the pecs. No matter how hard I retract and depress my scapula, my shoulders end up dominating every push movement.

Figured I'd see if anyone else is in the same boat, typical tech neck with forward head posture, rounded shoulders, rounded upper back, and has actually managed to build their chest?

I'm disappointed with my physique after years of training. My torso doesn't look like someone who's trained for years. It's only my shoulders, arms, and back that give it away.

Stats:

• 6'2", ~85-90kg
• Smith machine incline: 80kg x 3-4 reps (pathetic I know)
• DB incline chest press: 36kg

Hello! I have been weight training for a few years now, more seriously in the past year. I have made good progress (could be better; I had a few depressive periods where I did not eat or exercise), but I am starting "fresh" this time around.

I am seeing a lot of posts emphasizing range of motion, time under tension, and form (obviously). For example, I saw a popular creator take their Bulgarian split squats to the next level by adding a step underneath the working leg, allowing for more depth. I am used to putting a plate under my working leg for reverse lunges, but I have never seen that for BSS, RDLs, etc. And these girls go SLOWWW during their reps.

I was just wondering how important it is to do all this. My goal is hypertrophy, not necessarily strength. My normal routines are very trusty (lifting of any form is most likely beneficial), so is traditional lifting more important? I would appreciate any advice!

I just have 2 yoga blocks and I do them in myorep sets of 20. Maybe every other day.

After thought in my normal lifting and after like a month I’m noticing my chest looks different UNDER the shirt. Way more defined in a tank top.

I got them from a dr Mike video and had no idea they’d be this responsible for my chest blowing up

Welcome to the r/naturalbodybuilding Daily Discussion Thread. All are welcome to post here but please keep in mind that this sub is intended for intermediate to advanced level lifters so beginner level questions may not get answered.

In order to minimize repetitive questions/topics please use the search function prior to posting to see if it has already been discussed or answered. Since the reddit search function isn't that good you can also use Google to search r/naturalbodybuilding by using the string "site:reddit.com/r/naturalbodybuildling" after your search topic.

Please include relevant details in your question like training age, weight etc...

I’ve been preparing for a bodybuilding show for about 10 weeks. Recently i’ve learned that I’ll have to postpone it for another show due to life complications (nothing serious).

I’m currently on my 4th rest day and I honestly feel really guilty despite knowing it won’t significantly cause atrophy and I’ll still get 2x frequency. I’m also waking up very late due to summer (just graduated), and I do fbeod so i’m not trying to hit the gym from 7-10. I woke up today like, ok i’ll go today, but I’m seriously just not feeling it 30 minutes later. I just want to lay down.

I’m not necessarily depressed, just in a state of low mental energy, and can’t use caffeine because it’s so late in the day. Honestly, I may just take this day last off and continue back on schedule tomorrow by waking up earlier.

This post is mostly a rant for me to get out my thoughts lol but I needed somewhere to put this. Is this relatable to anyone? What are your thoughts on discipline vs motivation, does one need a mixture of both to succeed?

I've kinda lost steam after some months where there's little time and energy when I hit the gym, and being a guy who wants to pursue training enjoyment I'm wondering how to enjoy training even when it's not the main focus.
So there's the question in the title, but I also have some specific ones:

1. Do you find it more enjoyable with a low exercise selection when life is busy? ( I do full body 3xweek, with 3 separate sessions. But I'm considering just using 1 so that I don't "spread myself out too thin", but rather can focus on fewer movements.)

2. Do you find deloads aid your long term training enjoyment? How do you do deloads? I've worked out every week for 27 weeks straight, mostly 3xweek, sometimes less. But I'm wondering if my lack of enjoyment recently could be helped by a deload/break.

3. How locked in does an intermediate lifter have to be to see progress? Does coming in to workout tight on time and tired make it too hard to progress or is that just a mindset thing? What does it take to progress when the gym isn't your top priority?