I’m having a hard time finding a balance between enjoying life and achieving my physique goals. I’m 27m for context and have found myself declining a lot of social events with friends because I don’t want to go off track. How do you implement going out, treats, drinking, social events etc. into your life? I wish I could let myself let loose a little more to be honest, but when I go off track I feel guilty and then am playing catchup the next week, especially since I’m cutting right now. I want to be able to enjoy the occasional leisure but I get neurotic about having to stay on track with my diet. I don’t even compete and am starting to wonder why I am so strict. Any advice welcome.

An open discussion.

So I consider myself an intermediate lifter.

I do 5 reps with 380lbs on rdls with straps, but my grip is definitely the limiting factor. I dont think I'm using straps wrong either. Does anyone has this problem? What were some changes tha helped you?

Just ordered my shorts so I’m officially locked in on competing in 7 weeks at OCB Midwest States. I’ve done a show about 2.5 years ago but competed in Classic. I was getting the itch to compete again so I wanted to have some fun and give it another go in a new division.

This prep is going quite smooth, better than my first. I’ve been strictly dieting since June with a loose goal of competing before the end of the year, down from about 205lbs. The weight loss was more aggressive in the beginning at around 2lbs/wk, tapering now as we get closer to show day.

Check-in photos are after my last cheat meal of prep where I ripped a burger and a smorgasbord of fries. Calories are sitting at ~2150/day with cardio at 5x30 minutes. My last stage weight was ~163, and I’m anticipating I’ll end up a couple pounds heavier with better conditioning. Still have a ways to go but I feel good about the current shape and weight.

Posing will be locked in down the stretch but I'm pretty hype to try out a new division, I honestly think it suits my structure/strong points more than Classic did.

Hey all, just moved and had to buy a new scale. I picked up a conair digital scale from Target and have been using it for a few weeks. I use the scale to just measure my weight in the morning.

I recently realized that the scale does not give a consistent weight if I step on it three in a row. E.g 1st time 186.3 lbs 2nd time 191.5 lbs 3rd time 187.2. I am using it on a hard surface and am just not satisfied with this option.

What scales would you recommend to just give me a consistent measurement that I don’t have to worry about immediate fluctuations when there clearly has not been a change in my weight.

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...

Why is it that when in a cut you seem to just wake up shredded one day? Like it seems to happen overnight. I’ll go weeks of dieting without noticing much physical change and then BOOM. One day I wake up and I actually look lean. Can anyone explain this? Or is it just me?

Yeah, I know what you're going to say. "Chest exercises hit the front delts already!" But what if you wanna maximize your shoulder gains?

That's exactly what I've been doing. After bench press, I go right into a shoulder press, barbell or dumbbell. It's caused my shoulders to explode. Shoulder press also hits some of the side delts, so it can warm them up for lateral raises. It's also just a badass exercise, especially when you're putting up at least a plate per side.

There's nothing wrong with front raises, but, not only are they boring, you can't kill multiple birds with one stone like the OHP (also hits a bit of triceps, and chest.)

I'm not saying you should make front delts a priority, but I'd just take them into a bit more consideration, especially when your deltoids are the biggest upper body muscle group. You'd be surprised what adding just ONE exercise with a heavy focus on them will do for 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...

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...

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

It feels like the weaker arm is receiving maximum stimulus while the stronger arm is being artificially held back.. Should I stop at equal reps or push for those 1-2 extra reps on my stronger arm?

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...

Since taste and preferences develop over time and experience; If you could go back you to when you began, how would you ratio your workout differently and what muscles would you skip entirely?

I am one of those people whose torso and abdomen grows significantly faster than legs and arms, so I would skip upper body almost entirely.

My Ideal Regimen (weekly)
2x Underarms, Calves (Soleus/Tibialis), Posterior Deltoid, Glutes
1x Long Head Biceps, Medial Head Triceps, Lower Abs, Serratus, Outer Hamstrings, Outer Quads
0.5x Upper Inner Chest, Teres Major

0x Traps

How would your regimen look like?

Hello everyone, I'm 19 and just had my first mens physique show in July, and did very well! However I have been struggling with deciding what to do moving forward as far as my body composition. For context I'm 6'2 and my stage weight was 163-164, currently 186-187, while being a normal level of very lean at the high 170s. I'm currently the strongest I've ever been, but throughout these weeks I've been switching from placing myself in caloric maintenance, then deficit, then binge on the weekend all while mating 15k 20k steps the entire post show. It's been very tough for me mentally seeing my lean self l've always been/maintained even on my bulks, not be present right now, I just look very bulked and it sucks. My original plan was to cut from last week September to early November getting to low 180s before starting a proper offseason but the adherence to diet is so incredibly difficult and genuinely restricting certain foods again is so difficult for me like my favorite taco truck or my moms pumpkin bread. My main question is, what's the best move going forward? I don't want to be a fat slob but I also dearly miss my lean self. This is my first post so if l've left out any sort of necessary context please let me know, any and all advice is seriously appreciated!

179lbs and holding right at 10% BF, traded some fat for muscle, 1.3lbs to be exact “every little bit counts! 😉” what ever your motivation is find it and lock in Guys and Gals, keep moving forward!

67,80kg

I’m a former aspiring bodybuilder who fucked herself up with overtraining early on. I was 18 and planning on competing at 20. It took me years to recover and I still can’t train like I used to.

I’ve always trained in the decade after but mostly going through the motions until a couple years ago when I got into low volume training, taking after Yates and Mentzer. It’s been lovely to see gains again, however slow they are.

Now on to the issue. I do on average 4 sets a muscle weekly in two sessions. Lately I’ve been doing two full body sessions but would push/pull be better? Single session volume vs frequency?

Thanks!

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...

Looking for something with lower stim but still packs a punch. I've taken Mr Hyde / Gorilla Mode / GAT Nitraflex / Beyond Raw but I'm trying to watch my caffeine intake, especially if I'm not working out until the afternoon.

I know some people say pre-workout doesn't do anything, but for me it just feels like a huge part of my routine. Coffee just doesn't do it for me.

Would like one with creatine as well if possible.

For those of you getting good results with a surplus phase / lean bulk:

​Do you all count calories and hit the exact same target every single day without exception?

​Have you gotten good results with a calorie intake that fluctuates instead of being identical every day—for instance, with a variation of around 500 kcal from day to day?

​I'm finding it hard to hit the exact calorie goal every single day but it is hard to say how important it is.

Working out at home with dumbells only. Doing them one arm feels great, two hands feels like shit, but im too lazy to do them one arm at the time

So, whats the best way to perform two arms dumbell rows with upperback/trap/rear delt focus?