Defining
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Posts posted by Defining
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9 hours ago, PaulG said:
In this case, the anecdote is that even once everything's locked in and someone is gaining that perfect 2 lbs of muscle per week, and no matter how much accessory work they're doing, almost no one sees much growth in their arms until their chest and back puts on a good 5, usually more like 10 lbs of muscle. No one knows exactly why, although plenty of people have theorized that it's a matter of the body avoiding muscle imbalance: huge arms and a small back and torso supporting them are usually a recipe for getting yourself injured. When you're throwing crap around in the real world, it's your back and torso doing most of the work. But the fact remains, just about everyone who's bulked successfully has seen their chest and neck measurements skyrocket while their biceps dink around.
This is interesting, I hadn't heard it before, but it certainly makes sense! I don't spend much time in gyms and don't work out with a partner, so I have a huge gap in my anecdotal knowledge beyond personal experience. THIS is why listening and learning from multiple sources is so important. Thanks for sharing!
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I'd get checked out by a doctor to make sure that the burning feet aren't a symptom for something more serious.
Otherwise keep on with the strengthening exercises, and give it time. In the meantime, you could explore rowing as a possible activity to work on your conditioning that requires less foot involvement.
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15 hours ago, f789 said:
In addition, I totally get the purpose of compound exercises and how they work various muscles at once. At the same time, I do feel like I need accessory work, as I have trouble gaining muscle, for example, on my arms (biceps and triceps). That's why a modified BLS appeals to me (adding a bit more accessory work on different days that the original plan calls for). It seems like SS/SL might not suited for that. What do you think?
I mean, there are arguments for/against; and it does SOMETIMES come down to the individual response. But honestly simple is often better; variety doesn't necessarily mean it's more productive. Variety might be less boring though, which is an important consideration. Both compound and isolation lifts are useful, but IMO many accessory lifts are not necessary until you start stalling out, or you have a specific area you need to bring up which is affecting the main lift/movement. But at the end of the day, the best workout is the one that you enjoy and will continue to do consistently.
The other question is: do you ACTUALLY have 'trouble' gaining muscle, or are you just focusing on your arms and want to see faster progress specifically there? I mean, that's cool if you do - but truthfully if you're doing push ups, bench presses, military presses, DB rows, pull-ups, etc. your arms should already be getting quite a bit of work.
You can do goblet squats with heavy DBs, or front squats with one in each hand. Same with DLs. Same with the presses (you should also have some rows in every routine, to make sure your shoulders stay healthy). And you can absolutely make good progress, even with DBs in isolation right now. Doing a lift with DBs instead of BBs probably doesn't matter all that much right now to be perfectly frank (especially since it's your only option), because you're not lifting enough weight yet that your stabilizer muscles can't handle it.
Think of it this way: recovery typically takes only 24-36hrs before that muscle is ready to be worked hard again. But if you only hit that muscle once a week (because you're cycling through 'variety' options), you are 'losing' 1-2 extra opportunities to use that muscle in a week! Now, that's a HUGE oversimplification, since muscles obviously aren't worked out in isolation of the surrounding areas -- but the same rules apply. You could even still work out 6 days/week with a push/pull or upper/lower, if that's part of the appeal of a body split routine.
To get muscle to grow, you need to make it work hard and then let it rest - if you work it too hard it can't recover; but if you don't work it hard often enough, you will see slower progress (and potentially even lose some of what you gained). A higher frequency (ie. more workouts) but medium/lower volume (fewer exercises per workout) is a great way to take advantage of the newbie's ability to recover quickly. Personally, I would not be doing a body part split (and it's generally not recommended for beginners).
That being said, if that's what YOU prefer to do, keep on keeping on!
EDIT: some materials on training frequency
https://www.strongerbyscience.com/training-frequency/amp/
https://builtwithscience.com/how-often-to-train/
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4 hours ago, PaulG said:
Fair, I’m not very experienced with DB programs myself, I’ve only done barbells and bodyweight. I do think that more than stability, their issue is that grip strength becomes a limiting factor with big compound DB movements — you could push the 75lb dumbbells, if you lived in a perfect world where your hands were vice-grip robot claws, but you can’t actually hold onto them long enough to get the work done. They may be useful but I think it’s fair to consider them an alarm bell for someone in f789’s situation, who’s looking for an effective routine and isn’t sure yet what the markers are of a solid strength progression program.
100% - they can absolutely limit how much weight you can move in big compound movements, which can be counter productive for certain goals. And I should clarify: I think that you were bang on when you flagged it as a point of concern, especially in this context. My own bias towards unilateral & DB/cable work is purely personal preference, and obviously not shared by most people. I think that DB and BB both have their place in a routine, but rarely to the exclusion of the other unless injury/history precludes certain movements.
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In the interest of always reevaluating when presented with new data:
https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/150/3/421/5695302
This article hypothesizes that some of the 'lean body mass' gains that occur in high protein studies may actually be organ hypertrophy.
QuoteWe may possibly consider that protein intakes of long duration above 1.6 g·kg−1·d−1 may serve to promote visceral organ hypertrophy. The available literature on visceral tissue protein metabolism in sedentary individuals does indicate greater nitrogen cycling with higher-protein diets (14). Another prospect, specifically in short-term IAAO trials, is that the increased net balance because of theoretically increased visceral tissue anabolism may only be an indication of a preferential restoration of amino acid needs in the visceral pool in response to a change in the habitual protein intakes and fasting. Clearly, this is an area that warrants future investigation. These questions remain: if this excess protein is impacting visceral protein metabolism and if so, what are the acute and chronic effects and implications? These findings need to be confirmed in humans and we should consider what, if any, consequences of visceral organ hypertrophy exist and their implications for long-term health
SO! When tracking progress, limb girth measurements vs trunk girth (ie size of your waist) are important to include. Arguably, in the sense of useful application for the average layperson, they may in fact be the ONLY relevant data when tracking skeletal muscle gain. Good to know.
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Taking a break from the next challenge - my goals & habits don't need a reset, and I clearly haven't done a good job tracking here anyway.
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On 5/4/2020 at 11:12 AM, f789 said:
Second, are you familiar with the "Bigger Leaner Stronger" program? I was going to give that a try, since it's fairly straightforward and seems catered to relative newbies like me. If you are familiar with that program, how would you compare it to something like StrongLifts or StartingStrength? Again, I really appreciate your advice.
I'm not a trainer or expert or anything, so take it all with a grain of salt.
I mentioned the DB vs BB thing because I actually prefer DBs, and I like to remind people that they can be a good option when used properly. 
I'm not familiar with 'bigger leaner stronger', but a quick search shows that it's a body-part split? I am 100% biased towards either a push/pull or whole body work, especially for newbies. If you want a 'plug n play' option, here's my preference: https://www.templateroller.com/template/176680/strong-curves-workout-weeks-1-12-training-log-templates.html
StartingStrength is a proven program, especially for young/newb male lifters - I'd add some rows into the routine, but one of the reason's it's so effective is because it's SIMPLE. StrongLifts is very similar, with slightly different progressions. One of the reasons they aren't my favourite routines is because without a trainer ensuring good form, it's sometimes easy to eff up even 'simple' stuff like back squats and military press.
At the end of the day though, don't make yourself crazy. Pick a program, and just stick with it for at least 6-8 weeks (assuming you're seeing some progress and are following it properly).
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I agree that the routine you've described looks more like a conditioning program, rather than bulking. You could look at something like StrongLifts or StartingStrength if you'd prefer to follow a program rather than building your own. I also quite like StrongCurves (it's marketed towards women, but is a very balanced option). If you'd like to make your own, here's a good starter: https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/how-to-build-your-own-workout-routine/
There's nothing wrong with using dumbbells per se to build muscle, but you can typically move less weight with them because of the additional stability work needed to keep them steady. That being said, using DBs can also help prevent strength imbalances between different sides of the body. A mix of BB and DB work is a nice compromise.
In terms of how OFTEN you want to work out, that depends on your overall volume, bodypart split, recovery, length of workout, schedule, personal preference, etc. - play around to see what works for you.
My own preferences for programming: (this is super long, feel free to just totally ignore)
SpoilerI'm going to make some assumptions here, and work on the premise that you'd like to add a bit of muscle, lose a bit of fat, and just generally get a bit more fit.
In addition to working out, you REALLY NEED TO* also pay attention to both nutrition and recovery, to speed things along and keep yourself healthy:
You want to be sleeping AT LEAST 8-10hrs/night (the recommendation is typically a minimum of 8). Take days off between workouts, and don't overdo it on the number of sets you do each workout. Meditation and gratitude journaling is also helpful to reduce stress, which will improve recovery and help you make progress faster.
*You don't actually 'need' to do anything, but optimising your nutrition and recovery strategies will give you the best results in the shortest amount of time, and help prevent burnout.
For the workout:
You can alternate weight lifting/resistance training days with some cardio stuff like swimming, rowing, cycling, running (if you're into that kind of thing
) - but make sure not to go TOO hard every day. Take a few days off every week where you're only doing lazy/easy physical activity like walking the dogs, going for an easy hike, leisurely swim, ultimate frisbee with friends, etc.
To help you understand how to select exercises, I generally like to think of them as pulling and pushing for upper body (both vertical ie. overhead and horizontal ie. arms in front of you), and knee dominant or hip dominant for your lower body (the two major joints for your lower body, AKA squat v deadlift), and some folks also like to add some isolation exercises for areas that need some extra attention. Note: you could waste time on bicep curls, or you could use a bigger multi-joint movement like rowing to hit more body parts at once - even with time to spare, there's no sense in being inefficient with your workout design (and yes, I'm biased
). But that's pretty much it! Find some safe/fun lifts, work out consistently, and you're away to the races. Some more info: https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/how-to-build-your-own-workout-routine/
The other movement I'd add to the list would be loaded carries - which is to say, picking up something heavy and walking a distance with it- mostly because that mimics the most common day-to-day strength we need in real life! Plenty of folks also like to add core work as a specific category, which is cool - but your core will also be used to stabilise lots of the movements detailed below. Up to you, but here are a few more ideas if you want!
For beginners, full body workouts (rather than focusing on different body parts on different days) give you the chance to exercise each muscle group 3-4 times a week, which helps you to improve movement patterns and optimise initial strength gains. Essentially, beginners aren't strong enough to stress out their muscles to the point that they need to split things up, at least to start with. I also like to err on the side of less technical movements, especially when you're working out alone at home - the fewer things that can be done incorrectly, the better!
To that end, here are my favourite beginner movements: For each workout, pick one from each 'column' of movements (horiz push, horiz pull, vert push, vert pull, knee dominant, hip dominant, core, loaded carry) - you can vary these from day to day if you'd like to stave off boredom, or keep with the same couple of movements to make your progress easier to track. The order you do them in doesn't REALLY matter, so you can pick whichever out of convenience/gym availability, or prioritise the muscles you care more about by doing them at the beginning of the workout when you're freshest.
WARM UP: 5-10min of skip rope, burpees, rowing, or jumping jacks AND 2 sets of Sun Salutation for EACH SIDE (4 total, lots of variations around, I prefer the ones that include a lunge movement/stretch for your hips)
OR the NF Warmup if you prefer that over my yoga tomfoolery suggestion
Then:
- Goblet squat or Split Squat (lower body; knee dominant) - kettlebells are NOT essential, you can start with just bodyweight or use dumbbells (or even just hold a weight plate)
- Hip Thrust or Practice the Hinge (lower body; hip dominant) - add weight when you can do at least 15 bodyweight reps in a row; don't deadlift until you have a good hinge. This is a bit alarmist on my part - lots of people really enjoy deadlifting, and see fast progress on it when they start out; personally, I prefer to build the base movement patterns first, but if you're curious about DLs there are plenty of experienced lifters (which I am NOT) available on the forum to help you out.
- Inverted Row or Dumbbell Row (upper horizontal pull; pick one per workout) - keep your back straight, don't let your shoulders cave in! Seated cable rows are also great.
- Pull Downs with bands or cable weights (upper vertical pull; pick one per workout) - lighter weights to start with, you should focus on feeling it in your back, not your arms (this movement will eventually progress to pull-ups, but those are really hard for most of us to star out with). If you can do pull-ups, do those instead!
- Pushups or Dumbbell Bench Press (upper horizontal push; pick one per workout) - regress as needed to keep good form
- Headstand Pushups (upper vertical push) - elevated pike push-ups are a good regression for beginners, and DB presses are another option, but DON'T do any overhead pressing with weights if you have poor thoracic (upper back) mobility or shoulder stability. Another great option would be landmine presses, which can help you add weight while keeping your shoulders/back safe & happy. Or incline DB bench presses, if you prefer.
- RKC Plank or Auxillary Core Movements (core) - time and reps don't matter if you're not doing them properly; slow & good form for 15sec is better than bad form for 60s
- Farmer's Walk or Similar Variations (loaded carries) - also acts as a 'metabolic finisher' for the workout
COOL DOWN: Brisk Walk for 15min, 2 more Sun Salutations (one per side) OR do some foam rolling if that's your jam
RE: Rep & set schemes - I prefer the rep goal system
Aim for a minimum of at least 25 reps per movement, starting at a weight that you can just lift for 5 reps, and then every set is as many reps as possible. The progression would be increasing how many reps I can do in a row, but ALWAYS needing to finish at least 25. Once you can hit at least 3 sets of 8 reps, it's back to the beginning.
eg. goblet squat with 40lbs
workouts 1-3: 5-5-5-4-3
workouts 4-5: 6-5-5-4-4-3
workout 6: 6-6-5-5-4
workouts 7-8: 7-7-5-4-4
workouts 9-10: 8-7-6-5
workout 11: 8-8-7-6
workouts 12: 9-8-8
Increase weight to new 5 rep max next workout!
I prefer this kind of periodisation because A: it's easier to remember what weight you're lifting because it doesn't change as often (eg. it's the same weight for 2-3 weeks in the example above, but you're still practicing progressive overloading), B: it simulates a natural progression from strength to endurance, which also helps connective tissue catch up to the muscle, and 😄 it ensures that volume is consistent, regardless of the rep range you're using. It's ALSO pretty handy because it takes less time when you're first starting out to figure out how much weight is appropriate for each lift.
But a standard 5x5 routine is also very popular, and some folks prefer it - do what works for you!
Your first week with weights will likely see your workouts taking longer, just because you're still learning the movements and figuring out the weights. Once you're in a groove though, ideally your workout (including warmup) will take you less than an hour to finish. Any longer than that and you'll start to fatigue.
WRITE DOWN YOUR WORKOUT, so it's easy to remember/follow along, as well to track your progress. You may feel like a dweeb, but tracking your workouts is the best way to ensure regular and consistent progress.
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10 hours ago, @mu said:
woot! Sorry to hear about the car accident, where were you injured?
Just whiplash and some nerve issues; it's a PIA because I already had some challenges with my neck & thoracic area before this setback, but it could have been MUCH worse.
Man, there are some really nice leg stretching options with this, which I usually need to lie 'legs up the wall' and use a yoga strap for. Hits slightly different spots though. This is great.
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12 hours ago, @mu said:
You did well to replace those but 3-way loading should not be done on a carabiner, it's not rated for that (if you can find a rated quicklink instead). If you are rigging each sling separately, you also fix the 3 way loading problem, that's good.
Now overloading is still a problem (the material held by the carabiner is too large). You will see silks rigged directly into a carabiner every so often but it is a mistake. People get away with it but it's not safe. On the pic, I see frictions between the slings and the extra carabiner, it would also happen with a single carabiner (friction against the gate causing tears in the sling a well as some security issues by pushing against the gate, on top of the carabiner being generally overloaded)
That's super interesting! I have the handles on a separate 'biner anyway instead of all on one. There wouldn't be as much rubbing that way, OR 3-way loading. But still something to keep an eye on. And yes, each side is loaded onto the rack separately. Thanks for your expertise!
I could definitely try the figure 8, but there's a chance it's not entirely necessary since there's not the same amount of 'swinging' involved in this use case (nor any swiveling). It's almost like that would be a system to DIY a proper hammock on your own, instead of buying a 'specific' yoga set. Something to think about though.
12 hours ago, @mu said:Anyway, all that said, have you tried it yet?
SO MUCH FUN!
I've been pretty careful about inversions, since I was in a car accident a few months ago and am still going through physio. But even just being able to try a few stretches in a different way has been awesome. I already feel a little more bendy, and stronger in certain positions. Woot.
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I can totally relate. I went from pescatarian (2-4yrs, ish) to vegan (10-12yrs), back into omnivore life - albeit my meat consumption is still very low. You might be interested in this plant-eating recipe thread.
That being said, one of the major reasons that I phased animal protein back into my diet is because it is VERY difficult to eat higher protein without also eating higher kcal on a plant-based diet. For a 200lb dude who needs 3,000kcal+ a day, that's not such an issue - but if your TDEE is under 2,000kcal a day, it's virtually impossible without supplements. I use whey protein powder heavily to supplement my daily protein intake; I would not be able to consume that much otherwise. Depending on your lactose intolerance a more refined whey (ie. isolate) MIGHT be ok for you, but otherwise there are plant-based protein powders that you may want to explore.
The mince & falafel that you mentioned aren't actually high protein, in terms of g protein/kcal - you'd be better off just eating a cup of beans. Nutritionally speaking they're fine (if not consumed in excess), but they might not fulfill the need you're looking for. If you're getting sick of legumes, you could explore sprouting - it takes the peas/lentils and turns them into microgreens (ish), for a change of taste/texture. Seitan is another versatile ingredient you could try, as long as you tolerate/digest gluten well.
At the end of the day, a lot will depend on your personal preference (as well as what food is available locally, and your budget) - experiment a bit, and see what works!
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3 hours ago, @mu said:
Good to read! Just keeping in my mind the whole weight load limit is set by the weakest link. I haven't seen those yoga kits in person, only in pictures but this for instance looks like a big no no to me
The clips on the hammock, or using metal on metal? I replaced the ones that came with the hammock with the climbing carabiners I mentioned, everything mounted to the soft ties directly (no metal on metal).
3 hours ago, @mu said:I also don't mean to put you off at all, it will also depends how much you use it and how. It's worth inspecting the slings every so often (even on a correct setup anyway).
You didn't put me off, you made sure I'm staying reasonably safe! Totally appreciated. I will schedule in a monthly inspection of the sling, that's a good idea, thank you!
3 hours ago, @mu said:really?
I haven't read many of your posts but you strike me as somebody who research stuff a lot, how is that arrogant?
OH yeah, I'm an obnoxious know-it-all. Unfortunately one of the side-effects of often being right (but not always!) due to 'lots of research' is that it can give me a false sense of security in my own knowledge base. Reminders that I don't know everything are always useful and appreciated.
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3 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:
Oh I didn't write that to put you off. With the setup you've described plus a sensible head I can't imagine you would get yourself into too much trouble.
I took it as the reasonable caution & conversation that it was (I assume) intended as.
NO worries, I'm not put off. As it is, in many ways I feel like I've been using the whole thing more like a supported TRX system than proper aerial silk work. Once things start opening again, I may see if I can find some tumbling/trapeze classes or something similar, to try the 'hard apparatus' stuff as well, which sound like fun!
The safety stuff really cannot be stated too often - and for someone as arrogant as myself, they are VERY useful reminders to pay attention to the voices of greater experience.
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7 hours ago, @mu said:
I will try for this one: sit in the hammock holding the silks on each side, slide on your back like for an inverted straddle, lift your right leg and wrap it around the right silks from the outside to the inside (keep wrapping until you feel you are locking with your toes, your legs should be straight if possible), slide further in the left shoulder until you feel a good stretch. Do the other side.
That sounds fun, will give it a go!
7 hours ago, @mu said:You should not trust equipment that does not have any load bearing indication and by equipment I mean the rig itself or the point of attachment, the carabiners, the figure 8 and the silks themselves. By any mean, a power rack sounds actually safer to me than the ceiling or a tree. I suspect it should have have some weight load indication written somewhere. Carabiners and silks should also be provided with some indication.
100% I definitely respect the safety aspect of hanging from things. The rack itself is rated to a minimum of 700lbs, the hammock & handles for 400lbs, and I am using trucking soft loops (to avoid scratching the rack) rated to 10,000lbs and climbing carabiners rated to a minimum of 7kN along their weakest axis to attach them to the pull-up bar on the rack (via the soft ties). I also have the base of the rack itself weighted down with just under 300lbs of sandbags, just in case. I will check out the FB group you suggested, thank you!
8 hours ago, @mu said:Also do not train alone. I have managed to get stuck in a position I had done zillion of times... I had to get someone to rescue me... And my rig is not very high at all. I know it sounds unlikely and the apparatus is low and so on, but it's actually when it looks pseudo-low-risk that shit happens... I would probably not have died, but some kind of injury would have been likely
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7 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:If you're on your own you can still get out of them fairly easily as long as you can reach one foot to the floor, but as soon as you're in the air, even if it's only a few centimetres, you might just not have enough steam to hold yourself up anymore and then you're in trouble.
Totally - I don't live alone, and am just working out in the basement. But also the hammock has three independently hung handles on either side (short, medium, and long), which makes it MUCH easier to get in/out of poses safely. So I am still technically training 'alone', but it's within my risk tolerance.
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On 4/28/2020 at 6:39 PM, f789 said:
That was all very helpful! Thanks for the insight. I have one follow-up question, in particular, and please excuse me if it sounds naive. When increasing my calories to 2900-3000 or so, would you recommend I maintain the same macro percentage breakdown, or should I hold fat, for instance, lower in absolute numbers? In other words, should I strive to keep fat low (within reason), or simply continue to aim for a 50/25/25 breakdown (with fats being one of those 25)? I appreciate your help.
Totally up to you dude. Personally, I typically aim for an absolute number for protein intake (eg. 0.75-1.25g/lb of bodyweight if trying to build muscle or lose fat when already relatively lean), and then toggle carbs/fat as you like. Some people do better with more carbs, others with more fat. IMO you should ideally not drop below 0.3g/lb for fat, or below 50g/day for carbs - beyond that, it's down to what you feel best with.
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17 hours ago, Ced said:
Btw which part of my body do you think looks weird or make a bad posture?
I'm not a trainer, or physio, or any other kind of fitness professional; and I still think you need to have a professional help you. But from my perspective it looks like you have a bit of anterior pelvic tilt and kyphosis: which means your hips are tilted forward in a way that pushes out your tummy, and your upper back is rounded in a way that pushes your head forward. Pretty standard 'bad posture'; you'd want to work on stretching your chest/lats, as well as strengthening your back & posterior chain. Glute activation work and banded face pulls are probably where I'd start, if it were me. If you don't want to read through all of the options in the posture thread, here are two links you can start with:
https://theathleticbuild.com/how-to-fix-an-anterior-pelvic-tilt-stretches-and-exercises/
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2 minutes ago, starsapart said:
Yeah, without momentum moves or drops, I think you're right and this is reasonable. The car thing is a common measure used by aerialists rigging silks etc.... it's one of those cautions about why you don't rig from trees.
Good luck stretching! Have fun!
I wouldn't dream of swinging or bouncing with this setup, never mind dropping! And I do appreciate the safety cautions, the recommendations are there for a reason. While I'm inverted I can nearly touch the floor with my elbows, so this is definitely a different kind of animal from silks or the real (and really awesome!) trapeze work that you do.
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10 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:
the most important thing to stay safe in backbends is to enter them actively. It's ok to use tools to pull yourself a little deeper, but the more that the movement comes from active muscle engagement the safer it will be.
100% I appreciate the caution! I'm pretty careful around safe stretching, but it never hurts to be reminded.
Fortunately a strong background in dance & synchronised swimming, plus years of yoga, have given me a reasonable knowledge base to work from.
33 minutes ago, starsapart said:My biggest word of caution for this is actually to ensure you rig it safely. Did it come with instructions on how to rig? Can you attach it to a strong-enough support beam? The general rule of rigging that you want to follow is, "could I hang a car from this safely?" If the answer is no, you don't want to hang an aerial apparatus from it, either. You want a mat underneath as well. Even a short fall, if you are upside down and land on your head, can lead to serious injury or even death. Be safe.
That said, I might actually not be as helpful as you would want on this topic - I'm used to aerial hammock as an apparatus to do tricks/dance, and this is a slightly different beast, made mostly for stretching it seems like. A lot of the positions I know of for hammock wouldn't even fit in this type of apparatus, in fact. Definitely agree with @Mad Hatter above that you need to actively stretch and not just yank yourself into position here to ensure you don't get hurt. A great way to relax some muscles and potentially stretch your middle split/straddle is an inverted straddle like this one. It's nice to hang out in that position, let gravity pull your legs down, let your spine stretch out, etc.
Thanks! I have it set up on a power rack with rubber mats underneath; I definitely can't hang a car on it, but I'm reasonably confident that it's safe for the intended use. Yes, it's mostly to help with more stretching/strength stuff rather than proper aerial tricks/dance. I will go slow, start with easy progressions, and make sure not to put myself into poses that I can't safely get out of. Thanks for the inverted saddle rec, I will let you guys know how it goes!
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Topic with posture tips:
You'll need to discuss any limitations around exercise due to your pacemaker with a healthcare professional, no one on here will be able to tell you what's 'safe' or not. Go slow, be safe, and have fun!
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I got a hammock to play with! Especially excited about working more on inversions & supported back bends, plus moving slightly deeper into certain movements without feeling like I'm putting myself at risk.
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SO, does anyone have any favourite resources/movements/stretches they'd like to share?
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6 hours ago, f789 said:
I would estimate that I've gained 15 pounds since September 2019, and that admittedly (fortunately) includes some muscle.
Sept 2019 was ~6-7 months ago. Max estimated rate of gain for the 'average natural beginner lifter' for men is 1-2lbs/month. So....? Yes, you will likely gain some extra fat along with that, especially if you try to rush the process by eating a higher surplus than is necessary to gain muscle. As time goes on, this will slow down, probably after your first year you should assume that the fastest you'll be able to gain muscle will be closer to 0.5-1lb/month. Also bear in mind that you will likely not ONLY gain muscle, so you can plan/expect something between 20-40% of that gain to be fat mass.
Since you've mentioned that your weight hasn't changed much since you scaled back to 2,600-2,700kcal/day: congrats, you've found your maintenance intake! IMO you can aim for 110-115% of that to gain muscle, but more probably won't help. So if you aim for 2,900-3,000kcal/day (or even just on days you work out), that should result in sustainable incremental gains without TOO much fat. If you're really concerned about it, you can increase the kcal through extra protein (eg. an extra 40-60g of protein from shakes, if your system/budget tolerates it), which can help to blunt potential fat gain while in surplus. Bear in mind that as you gain weight you will need to recalculate your TDEE; I'd recommend doing this every 4-6weeks.
What you haven't mentioned: 1) how is your sleep quality/quantity? and 2) are you stressed? Stress and/or sleep deprivation can cause all sorts of icky hormonal things, which will often result in a higher likelihood of gaining fat vs muscle. So make sure you're getting 7-8+hrs of QUALITY sleep every night, and try to manage your stress as best you can (some habits to help may be taking a walk outside, gratitude journaling, meditation, yoga, visiting with friends [virtually right now, obviously], crafts/hobbies, etc.).
Well done on your awesome progress thus far! Just keep in mind that slow & steady wins the race.
Go slow, be safe, and remember to HAVE FUN! Welcome to the forum.
EDIT: One more point, which is that lower belly fat is often the last pudge to lean out, and the first area where folks are likely to gain fat back. You can make yourself crazy about it, or you can focus on your lifts & overall physique. If it were myself, I'd keep on with trying to gain muscle for the next 6 months at least. After that, you can think about eating more at a maintenance level for a few months and see what happens. If you decide you REALLY want to lean out instead of gaining more muscle, I'd recommend something like the MATADOR protocol, rather than just straight up steady state caloric deficit. I am also totally biased against 'dieting', so feel free to ignore me if this doesn't jive with your own preferences.
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First and foremost: ask your healthcare provider!
If it were myself, I'd be focusing on eating whole foods, getting enough protein, staying hydrated, and exploring exercise-at-home options. If that happens to result in incidental fat loss, that's awesome - but in preparation for a major surgery, personally I wouldn't be trying to lose weight. Also, for reference, safe rates of fat loss are generally considered to be no more than 0.5-1kg/week (definitely on the lower end of that range for women, even more so if you've recently already lost some weight) - so in 2 months, realistic expectations will likely be only 2kg-6kg, as Harriet already mentioned.
General recommendations for losing fat that I usually like to focus on:
- eat 1.6-2.2g of protein/kg of bodyweight (that would be 130-180g/day for yourself)
- aim for 5+ servings of fruit/veg every day
- sleep at least 7+hrs/night and manage stress as best you can (this can make a BIG difference in your overall health; gratitude journaling and meditation are good choices)
- include some resistance training, ideally 100-150min/week (weight training helps to lose fat more than cardio) This is a good beginner option
- IF YOU WANT; practice some type of intermittent energy restriction (my two favourites are: 1) 5:2, where you eat at your TDEE 5 days/week and then on 2 non-concurrent days eat closer to 1,000-1,200kcal; OR 2) MATADOR, where you'd eat at a 30% deficit (aka 0.7 x TDEE) for two weeks, then two weeks at your maintenance TDEE, then continue to alternate every two weeks until you reach your desired level of leanness)
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Nope, nothing safe or legal anyway. Diet and exercise are the way to go; expect weight loss to not be faster than 1lb/week on average.
General recommendations for losing fat that I usually pay attention to:
- eat 0.7-1g of protein/lb of bodyweight
- aim for 5+ servings of fruit/veg every day
- sleep at least 7+hrs/night and manage stress as best you can (this can make a BIG difference for hunger)
- include some resistance training, ideally 100-150min/week (weight training helps to lose fat more than cardio) This is a good beginner option
- practice some type of intermittent energy restriction (my two favourites are: 1) 5:2, where you eat at your TDEE 5 days/week and then on 2 non-concurrent days eat closer to 1,000-1,200kcal; OR 2) MATADOR, where you'd eat at a 30% deficit (aka 0.7 x TDEE) for two weeks, then two weeks at your maintenance TDEE, then continue to alternate every two weeks until you reach your desired level of leanness)
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43 minutes ago, Magdalena Ravenclaw said:
Finally did an shoulder routine yesterday. On the advice of @Defining I did it my lateral delt raises at 4lbs. I didn't feel muscle fatigue until 20 reps on the first set, though it did go down a little bit. But when I tried it at the 8lbs, I could definitely feel a strain in my back so I'm assuming that was indeed my traps trying to help. *sigh* So much for thinking I was a strong bad @ss, lol.
When I started doing delt raises, I had to use no more than 2lbs/arm, and definitely wasn't doing 20 reps. Feel like a badass because you're using the correct weight and technique to reach YOUR goals.
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Advice for a hardgainer struggling to build lean muscle / lose belly weight
in General Fitness
Posted
This is awesome - you considered the options, and chose what may work best for YOU! 🤘
In terms of advice on the routine, I'll defer to voices of more experience like @Grumble; I've never done a PPL split and I personally abhor repeating the same type of movement in the same workout, so I have no idea what best practices are.