QTDDTOT

How anal do I have to be about progression on SL? I did my first session yesterday and they weights it told me were fucking nothing. Like I could have done each lift in one set. Can I increase more than the 2.5kg it says? I know the point is good form but it feeld like there's no resistance.

SL likes to make people start stupidly light. You can push the progression faster to start with or you can start slightly higher. Both work.

Creatine loading: is it safe? I bought my first creatine a week ago and have been taking the recommended 2g/day (1/2 HCL, 1/2 mono). I've read online that some people load up to 20g/day for 5 days. I don't think I'm comfortable doing that much. How much should I do and for how long before returned back to 2g?

Take 5g every day, no need for "loading phase" or cycling. It's all bullshit with no proof. Just take 5g a day and that's it.

Quick question on bulking

5'11
135 pounds
6 miles of cardio a day
have been eating around 2700 calories a day, and haven't noticed weight gain, but I have moved up in strength gains

Am I eating enough?

Are 4x5 deadlifts too much for a session? Currently doing madcow and I feel like the ramping 4x5 deadlifts take too much energy and I am not at 100% by the time I do my 4th set.

Would I still make progress if I OHP and Bench Press 3x a week on SS or greyskull? I hate doing OHP and Benching only once a week every other week.

I'm currently doing a PPL split but I would go back to a 3x a week program If there was more frequency on upper body compounds.

How do I keep myself from eating too much?

What's an optimal bulk/cut timeframe from now until December?

Should I leave the 5x5 rep scheme if I want to make progress in my lifts? I'm not a beginner anymore and it really seems like 5x5 is too much volume to be adding weight on every workout and being able to do 5x5. Something like 3x5 would be easier to progress on IMO. Am I right or wrong?

Also I 3 min rest too short? If I do 3x5, 3 exercises a day. My workout will be around 30 to 40 min.

how do I enter techno viking mode?
what exercises and how many?

...

At my gym, in the make changing rooms, there are shower cubicles. These cubicles have doors on that can be locked.

Why the fuck are some guys showering naked with the door open?!

I can do a few wide-grip pullups but they hit my biceps way harder than they hit my lats, so I guess I'm doing something wrong.

What am I doing wrong?

Nothing to do with test, you're just a kinky freak

I am gonna start to bulk. Do I add 500 kcals in one go, or add some kcals weekly? How many?

Anyone remember the video of a doctor explaining the different muscle types and why you should always train till failure?

If your plan is to cut, and youre going for a 50% Protein, 30% Carbs and 20% Fats split, how much protein should you eat per day if you weigh 90 kilograms/198 lbs?

you're fine to add it all at once, though if your afraid of fat gain or something, you can add it slower e.g. 100cals at a time and add more as progression gets harder.

nothing. you use your biceps in pull ups, and in your case your biceps are fatiguing before your lats.

you can try "pull from your elbows" as a cue for those may excessively try to curl

muh freedom

do 3x5. much better if you're doing full body 3x/week.

be happy that they're 30-40 mins, because when your lifts get heavy you'll need longer breaks (5 mins+) - and also having shorter sessions now opens you up to do fluff lifts you wanna do like curls or whatever

>bulk till you feel too fat
>cut until you feel skinny enough
>repeat.

eat lower cal food
drink more water or other low cal drinks
keep busy so you don't eat out of boredom

yeah thats fine, do the second lift as a lighter accessory though rather than attempting a heavy 3x5 each session for each lift.

you're not meant to do 4x5 on madcow, you should just warm up to 1x5 like SS or TM

its far too stressful of a lift in conjunction with lots of squatting.

are you bulking to gain weight or get stronger?

if you're mainly interested in getting bigger, you're not eating enough. if you're only interested in getting stronger, then you're fine.

its hard to build joocy shoulders, especially at higher bf and natty

you can add lateral raises on bench day if you want more shoulder work.

i don't personally have experience - but i would avoid very difficult lifts such as a heavy squat or deadlift if you don't know the severity of the pinch/strain.

if its just a mild pain in your neck you should be fine if you don't crane your neck or anything else silly when you lift.

I started SS just a bit ago. The second time after deciding my starting weight I increased the deadlift by 8 kg like the sticky said. I'm not sure I kept my back completely straight though. Did I increase the weight too much? Should I increase less next time, or even keep the same weight?

>>
>>Muh freedom
This is the UK. Not the US!

High rep lateral raises. Klokov press also makes my lateral heads feel more demolished, but if you lack the shoulder health and mobility it might do more harm than good. Start with really low weights.

If you're unsure about form, just add 5kg per session instead. Do the same weight next time again and focus on doing it well.

Barbell Rows suck ass, is the T-bar or Dumbbell Rows a good alternative? Which is better?

Db row

It depends on your program and what you want to accomplish with them. Most DB variants take out the lower back element which might call for more lower back volume.

>How many grams of dextrose should I take before and after workout respectively, assuming no other food/supplements during that timeframe?
Depends how much your muscles use.

I'm diabetic and have the luxury of a CMG that graphs my blood sugar spikes/bumps over time. Thus, I can see how much glucose I'm using when I'm at idle vs in the gym and vs when I eat carbs.

To quantify, I do the Golden Six Routine just now every 2 days and I usually eat an entire pack of dextrose or gluco tabs for an hour and a half to two hours workout. That comes to 42g of carbs which works out to 7.14 mmol/l of glucose in my blood used up by my muscles.

So a benchmark might be a banana for each hour of workout you do. Obviously it'll change from person to person, fitness level to fitness level, workout to workout etc, but that's a basis.

If anyone is interested let me know and I'll generate some graphs of my blood sugars around workout times if I can be bothered

If your goal is eating less calories then it makes no difference whatsoever except perhaps you'd work out slightly less efficiently fasted so perhaps rest days.

It's safe, it's just stupid and a waste of money.

You wouldn't load vitamin C because you'd just piss it out and potentially distract your kidney from more important work. Same goes for Creatine, cycling is purely a marketing nonsense.

5g/day is the upper amount of what's been tested and hence most recommendations stay at 5g, no point going for anything different.

Eat more volume but less calories. This 99 times out of 100 means eating more vegetables. Eating less X is hard, eating more Y is easy. Your taste profile will change over time and within a couple weeks you'll hardly crave sugary and fatty shit any more.

Put your thumbs over the bar rather than under. This tiny movement will incorporate much more of your lats.

Also train your biceps more.

>5g/day is the upper amount of what's been tested and hence most recommendations stay at 5g
kek people don't take 5g just because no ones happened to test above it. how else would they test for loading phases if they've never gone above 5g?

5g is just the most needed to achieve full saturation.

What does lowering the volume when going from bulk to cut means? Example?

No, 5g was deemed the safe upper limit in one of the first lab tests and to this day is still the amount people on Veeky Forums recommend

A Reference Intake has never been established for Creatine, nor will an RDA be

Of lifts? It literally means lowering the volume. What's confusing about this? 5x5 becomes 5x4 or 4x5 or any volume less than 5x5.

Unless you are really advanced I would stick to the volume you're doing right now even on a cut. Unless you're doing a very severe cut in which case up intensity and reduce volume.

I'm 6'1'' and 182lbs. 185cm and 83kg. Novice doing SS plus assistance exercises.

From march to june I bulked but I went too aggressive and gained 5kg/10pounds.

Now I've been cutting for around 3 weeks, but in the last week or more my weight hasnt moved, while eating at 2000cals or less

I've started doing some cardio, went 2 times already this week.

I think my bf is closer to 20 than 15 (pic related)
I want to start a lean bulk phase.
Should I first continue cutting to around 15% (like when I can see my abs) OR just start now?

I would start with increments, like 2200 for half a week, 2400, 2600 and so on

could you stop talking shit that doesn't even make sense m8 thanks

1)Why not do 1month bulk 1 month cut?
2)why not bulk then fast for fat loss?
3)Do I need to lower protein when bulking? down to how much?

>Should I first continue cutting to around 15% (like when I can see my abs) OR just start now?
It all depends on you bro, do you want to actually get big and strong or do you want to keep yoyoing in this eternal muh abs search.

I don't get why beginners can't give up a year or two for gaining mass and strength.

In case you didn't get it from rant, bulk you have no muscle at all.

Right after you stop shitposting, np

Usually I read that for a novice, not to gain too much fat, you should bulk 2 kg / month at max. Is it true?

1-Because as a natty that won't yield much results, minimum natty to get good results on a bulk is probably 9:3 ratio so 9 months lean bulkan 3 cutting.
2- Because you are going to lose your hard earned muscle, fasting is shit for your metabolism in the long term and if fasted you won't perform well in the gym.
3-Don't play around with protein if in doubt increase it.

I didnt mean because I want to necessarily see my abs, it was more like a way to measure bf without having the instruments.
What I know for sure is that I dont wanna do bulking phases when I just become fat

>2kg a month.
>as a novice
Tiptopkek.
youtube.com/watch?v=OTw0_AZEE_I
watch from min 10.

My arms/shoulders hurt from squatting lowbar. It's like I don't have the flexibility to put my hands on the bar without really stretching the shit out of them. How do I correct this or is it uncomfortable for everyone?

Just had my first personal trainer session. He gave me a starter routine to get myself used to in the gym. Recommended me to do this for 2 weeks and then he can evaluate how I'm getting on.

Please rate it?

My routine:
Dumb bells 7.5kg - chest press
Dumb bells 5kg - shoulder press
Weight bag/bar 10kg - deadlift
Kettle bell 8kg - squats

Each of them is a 10x3 (3 sets of 10, is that written right?)

If you keep progressing and start lifting heavy the only 3 reasons I can see someone get fat is either they started eating 10k calories a day or they have shit macros i.e guys that have a substantial amount of their calories coming from donuts chocolate cakes and other retarded foods and last is if someone has genetically low test in which case see endo for some TRT.

I am really cautious about my diet
I eat very few sugars, probably only from milk and the cereal I eat which is mostly oats, but with some wheat and dark chocolate as well. like 20g a day max

I ate around 3K for 4 months, I had some trouble progressing as I said, since I deloaded badly

I just ate too much

I just switched to low-bar from high bar at the beginning of the week and today squatted 150 kg for 2x3 no discomfort all thanks to shoulder dislocations with a broom handle.

You've been cheated bro, get SS and start using barbells, if your gym doesn't have free weights find another.

>it's gonna help you build that quick base
not for me it didnt, only thing it helped me build was a fat gut

Fellow Ausfags, I'm looking for good brands of natural, greek-yogurt. What would you recommend?

As a beginner, the actual routine/programming isnt as important as you want to believe. Simply lifting at all is pretty much all that you need to do at the very beginning.

You should be telling us about the changes you've made to your diet. Most trainers gloss over that part, but it's significantly more important than any actual programming.

Wait you gained 5 kg in 4 months as a novice? What is wrong with that man? That's pretty well controlled if not slightly on the low side, you're just not lifting weight heavy enough for gains to be visible, I mean my upper body only started showing once I hit 100 kg binch and 60kg ohp for 5rm and i'm a 5'7 manlet so probably for you it's higher.

Just stay on the track and keep progressing if you really are worried about looks just maintain for now and start bulking during winter.

I've always been a spooky skellington at 185 cm/6" . This summer I started to stuff my face just to know how to gain weight. I've gone from 71kg / 156lbs to 75kg / 165lbs in bit more than a month, so about 1kg / 2.2lbs per week.

I lift 3x a week following SS.

Am I gaining weight to quickly? My plan is to continue up to 80kg / 176lbs and then slow down the rate but continue up to 85kg / 187lbs and then cut.

As I said, it's babies first routine. In two weeks once I'm in the habit of going I can ask about learning more, such as barbells. And I'm using free weights in my routine. Didnt you read?

My diet has already been cleaned up a lot for about a year. It's not perfect but a ton better than it was.

Do I go with quaker old-fashioned oats, or steel-cut oats?

2lbs a week is pretty good. Aim for that for the first few months.

I gained 50lbs (Was 6'0,175#, went to 6'0 225#) in my first year of lifting, 30lbs of which came in the first 4 months. After that, throttle it back a little.

Just keep lifting hard. Once your bench stalls, that's usually a good sign to roll your bulk back a little (start counting cals, I aimed for around 3750 cals/day), as your noob gains are starting to end. Squats/deads stall too late, OHP too early.

People will argue over this for a long time, but don't worry about it, the difference is not significant.

SS is already babies first routine in fact most successful if not all successful beginner routines are already simple enough which is why they are called beginner routines. Are you daft?
What do you think 2 week with dumbbells and kettlebells going to achieve?
Those two weeks could be spent you gaining 100 kg in your total if not more.

SS is literally 6-7 months I don't get you novices going crazy about weight gain on it, do you think 6 months of gaining mass is going to put into hamplanet mode.
There are shredded natty guys 5'7 at 86 kgs, I would aim higher.

thanks bud. Do you know of any good greek-yogurt brands in Australia?

Similar question: my bottle is the same 1/2 HCL 1/2 monohydrate but is 3g per dose instead of his 2g. You guys say to do 5g; is that forever or is that just for the first couple of weeks and then I'm supposed to go back to the recommended use on the label?

I'm not daft, I'm a noob

Thanks senpai! Looks like we're quite alike in height and weight. I will continue as planned but start counting calories also.

Well not hamplanet mode, but if the rate of my weight gain was way off target I would probably be better saving those weight gains for later, not having to cut unnecessarily.

I use the gym at my apartment complex and there isnt' a squat rack. They have a set of free weights that I use for almost everything, except squats. For my squats, I use the machine they have, its one of the multi-purpose things with adjustable settings.

I move the grip so its almost on the ground, grab the handles, do a bicep curl so they handles are above my shoulder, and then I do my squats.

Is this effective? Would I be better off just trying to squat holding free weights?

>10,000 hours in ms paint

You're better off finding another gym.

To be honest you wouldn't be asking this if you have read the book.

Since I started SS last week shouldn't I belong to the True Novice category? That's 2-4 kg per month, so mine was the lower limit of this. Why was it wrong?

well if it works, it works.

I would only use the free weight dumbbells if they have them heavy enough to do a significant set of squats i.e. not going well above 10 reps. other than that just deal with what you have

Don't sabotage your progress and change in simply because you want to lift in your apartment rather than a gym.

Going to the gym, dedicating your time and energy, following a diet plan, is the hard part. Just take the few minutes and go get a gym membership.

You've already made the commitment, so you may as well achieve the results from it :).

Goblet squats are actually reasonably good, especially for hypertrophy. Not sure how using the cable machine for squats might work. How does it feel? Do you get a leg pump?

the problem is, there isn't really a comfortable way to hold the free weights while I squats and it my arms are exhausted from dumbell bench press, and shoulder flys

>not_sure_if_troll.jpeg

if you look at the picture, I squat down, grab the handles, do a bicep curl so they are over my shoulders (in the same spot my hands would be on a real bar), stand up, adjust my posture, and then do my 8 squats.

The handles being on a cable, which is attached to the fulcrum near my feet, actually lets me lean back a bit so I am on my heels more. It does exhaust my quads quite a bit, but I don't feel it in any other part of my legs (I was kinda under the impression that squats would make me feel it in my glutes a bit because they are the "get a nicer butt" exercise.

Most acurate way to measure body fat?

Dunk tank ("hydrostatic weighing")

For diet/training purposes, the mirror and neck/waist/hips (if grill) measurements.

I have a scale that supposedly measures your body fat and other things. How off do you think it will be?

Thanks, will try those shoulder dislocations

Ugh, don't get me started.
My mom stopped so low, she asked the doctor what the best way to measure weight was and he said " underwater" and then she said alright and we had to go at 3pm.
My sister enjoyed it but I didn't, you know when girls go to tie their hair up but then don't, she did that.

What do you mean, your mom stooped so low?

Not this shit again.

oh shit it's 2009 again

any benefit to taking dextrose as a skinnyfat dyel like me?

How does one get bow legs? I have crooked legs from being obese and I'm afraid they won't go away on their own once I lose weight, so I'm looking to straighten then or even bow them the other way.

Also how to straighten posture from years of being obese and sitting at a computer all day?

DAE get a grimace when they shrug? Idk if it's a normal think or if it's related to some neurological problems I have.

Are you low blood sugar dyel or just normal skinnyfat lazy dyel.

1 gram of protein per kg

I do leg work 3 times week like:

Workout A
3x6 Goblet Squat

Workout B
3x6 Lunges

AxBxAxx
BxAxBxx

My leg work is always the 3rd exercise after 2 compounds (bench+rows or Le Press+chin ups) so I have used a lot of energy. The lunges are intense and burn my shit up the next day, However I don't feel the same about the goblet squats. Should I increase the volume or would that fuck my shit up since I don't want to go to failure as I work legs every other day?

Looking for some advice.

basics:
25 yr old, 177 cm (5'10") high
currently 65 kg (126 lbs) overall weight, about 12.5% body fat
intake of 2500-2600 calories a day

I started trying to gain weight about a year ago, when I was only 55 kg, so I put on 10 kg since then. I built noticeable muscle and got stronger overall, but I also put on quite a bit of belly fat, which is bothering me now.

Lately, I’ve gotten a bit more serious about the whole thing and started measuring body composition weekly. It seems that currently I’m not going anywhere. If anything, I’m putting on even more fat (and losing muscle), although I’m of course doing regular exercise.

I’ve been stagnant at this status for months now and wonder what I should do. I was thinking that maybe I’m simply not having enough exercise, but I checked my notes and it seems that actually, when I was last gaining muscle, I wasn’t even doing exercise as intense as I’m doing now.
(My nutrition logs aren’t going back this far, unfortunately.)

I tried chasing deficits a few times and it never really worked out; I ended up losing more muscle than was worth it. Now I don’t really know where I want to go, I just want to get leaner one way or another, but currently neither is working.
What’d you suggest?

126 lbs is wrong, of course. It’s 143.

I've been training for two months. My leg day includes squats and straight legged deadlifts, I asked the trainer at the gym to check out my form and he recommended that I don't do both until I sort out my knee flexibility.

He told me I should replace squats and deadlifts with working out my Abductors on a machine, squatting on a balance ball (ATG, no weight) and hyperextensions

Is this good advice? When do I know when I'm ready to start squats and deadlifts?

HOW MUCH IS 1 PLATE
I SEE EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT IT BUT PLATES HAVE DIFFERENT WEIGHTS GOD DAMNIT WHICH IS IT

He's probably right about you having bad flexibility, but I seriously don't get how squatting on a balance ball is anything else than 100% retarded.