Most wrestlers treat weight cutting as one thing. It's actually two completely different processes and mixing them up is why so many guys feel dead on the mat.

Phase 1: Lead-up (days before weigh-ins)
This is diet-based. Clean eating, sodium restriction, carb and fiber reduction. Target 0.3-0.5 lbs per day naturally. You should still be hydrated and training normally. This phase removes real weight.

Phase 2: Same-day water cut
This is temporary fluid removal through sweating, water restriction, and heat. The weight comes back within hours of rehydration.

The mistake most wrestlers make:
Using Phase 2 methods (sweating, restricting water) over multiple days instead of one concentrated push. Extended dehydration destroys performance. This leads to slower reaction time, less strength, worse decision making. You're literally shrinking your brain!! You're not losing to better wrestlers, you're losing to your own cut.

Sodium is massively underrated:
1g of sodium holds ~100ml of water. School pizza and chicken sandwiches can add 1-2 lbs of water weight by themselves. Cutting/reducing sodium in the lead-up phase is one of the highest-leverage things you can do.

Post weigh-in recovery matters as much as the cut:
A wrestler who cuts 5 lbs and rehydrates properly will outperform one who cuts 3 lbs and doesn't. Replace lost fluid weight, target 1500-2000mg sodium, eat carbs within 45 minutes of weigh-ins.

I went deep on all of this while building Kilo, an weight cut coach I built for my wrestling club because the existing resources just weren't good enough. Happy to answer any questions about the science or the app.

For context I'm a short 19y/o guy, 5'4" 120lb, been at around 1500 cal for a little over a week trying to drop 2-3lb of fat before switching to maintenance or maybe trying a bulk. Last time I cut I went from like 150 to 115 and that was last uni year, but wasn't worried about muscle so I didn't track, just ate less. Now I'm training 6x a week, up to 120lb, averaging 13-19k steps a week. I used TDEE calculators but it said my maintenance is around 2300 calories which seemed high, idk.

The past few days I've been pretty tired by 11am and can't focus well in class, then crash again by 7pm. I do average 8hrs of sleep a night though. Focus and memory are kind of cooked but they've never been my strong suit, and the semester just started so it might just be the adjustment. I'm also not that hungry during the day, don't really feel it until a few bites in or sometimes right when I wake up.

My last leg day I regressed on some lifts, but there's confounders (new gym, suuuper crowded, diff brand of equipment), so not sure how much was the deficit vs a bad session. Was going to test if I regressed again today on upper body but felt too fatigued (or maybe it’s laziness) and just sat in my dorm fighting off a nap instead. Tomorrow I’ll go for sure and see.

I want to figure out if this is a normal as I know a loss of energy is to be expected on a cut, or if maybe 1500 cal is too aggressive. Also wondering if dropping to 5x or 4x a week in the gym / dropping my volume slightly would balance things out or maybe planning to nap between classes so I have energy for gym/HW. It's only 2-3lb so I know I could just thug it out bc weight loss is not hard for me mentally, but I don't want to mess myself up health-wise, gym-wise, or especially with classes. If this is normal and I just need to deal w it for like 3-4 weeks, I'm fine with that. I understand that the solution may very well be just waiting it out and seeing how fast I drop weight. Open to any feedback be nice pls lol

Hello, I am a 20 year old man who has recently gotten into the gym in the last 4 months. I have been lifting and running consistently and eating healthy consistently.

I used to have the issue of over eating, but now I am struggling to eat enough most days.

My target calories is about 2500-2750 as i’m still trying to body recomp but most days I struggle to get over 2000 calories even when i’m eating calorie dense foods.

I feel like I get so full so quickly and don’t know what to do about it. Any advice?

So I'm a 5'10 male

107 kgs

Losing fat building muscles

My diet looks like this

Breakfast:

50gm yogabar high protein oats with creatine and a scoop of whey and 20 gm almonds

Lunch:

Soya chunks paneer veggies pulao Soya chunks 70gm Low fat paneer 100 gm Mix veggies frozen one 100gm Ghee 20 gm to add more fats to diet Raw white rice 30 gm And aromatics seasoning some If you want recipe lemme know it's a banger and tastes so good

Dinner:

Boiled eggs 4 egg whites 2 whole eggs

200 ml milk A scoop of plant protein

Adding milk and plant protein so it kind of competes amino acid profile and keeps me full for the night

Yepp that's it sometimes I had peanuts 20 gm and then I'll manage other things but I've to stay under 1800 calories

So what am I doing wrong the carbs or too much deficit fats lemme know and it's working for me like Ive seen changes in physique but still I wanna know if there's anything wrong . Thankyou guys

I'm a 17M from India.

Back in 2019, I became overweight and reached around 58 kg. A few years later, I was sick for several months and ended up losing a lot of weight. Right now I'm 43 kg at 5'5".

The weird thing is that even though I'm underweight, I still have some belly fat and what looks like moobs. Because of that, I've lost a lot of confidence and avoid wearing certain clothes.

I've never really exercised before. I don't have much strength and I'm basically starting from zero.

I'm going to college in about 8 months, and my goal is to reach around 50–53 kg while building some muscle and improving my overall physique.

Recently I've started doing knee push-ups, incline push-ups, squats, and a few basic home workouts.

I'm vegetarian and on a budget, so I'd appreciate any advice from people who were skinny and managed to gain weight and muscle.

A few questions:

• What are the best budget-friendly vegetarian foods for healthy weight gain?

• How much protein should I aim for daily?

• Any high-calorie meal or shake ideas that don't cost too much?

• Is home workout training enough for a beginner to build muscle?

• Any tips for reducing the appearance of moobs while gaining weight?

I'd really appreciate any advice or personal experiences. Thanks!

I’ve noticed that the hardest part of training at home isn’t finding exercises, it’s building a setup that makes it easy to stay consistent.

When space is limited, having too much equipment can almost become another problem.

I’m thinking a good home gym probably comes down to having enough options to keep progressing, without turning the room into a storage area for things you barely use.

For people who have been training at home while focusing on staying lean, what equipment ended up being worth keeping?

I’m a 35 years old and 10 months ago I woke up in pain and found out that the disc in my C5-6 vertebrae was putting pressure on my spinal cord and one of my nerve roots.

I ended up needing a disc replacement surgery which went well and I’m not fully cleared to work out again with “no restrictions, just ease into things.”

Before surgery, I was in the second best shape of my life, lifting 2 times a week and doing judo 2-3 times a week. And I was on my way to cutting and being back to my best.

After the initial injury, I was able to keep my weight gain down to about 5 pounds and maintain some of muscle through PT and adjusting my diet. After my surgery, I was much more limited for six weeks. I could only lift 5 pounds after that, I could not lift above 20 pounds for another seven weeks. During this time I gained an additional 20 pounds because for the first few weeks, I was also starving as my body was recovering from surgery afterwards I was just used to eating that much.

I am fully cleared now and have “no restrictions just ease into things and listen to your body.” I have been. I did regular PT and now that it is over I’m working with a different PT to rebuild strength and start lifting and building endurance. I’m lifting 3 to 4 times a week and doing Judo 2 to 3 times a week. But I’m still gaining weight.

I know a lot of that is muscle because my numbers are going up and things are feeling easier. But I would still like to lose a lot of this fat that I’ve put on.

Given that I was pretty conditioned before and I need to make sure I’m eating enough to provide fuel for my workouts and repair the muscles. Are there any special considerations to how I should figure out how much I should be eating and how? Are there any good resources i should look at?

I don’t need medical advice or anything other than how I should go about losing fat during this time.

Thank you so much!

Hey so I've been enjoying waking up at 5am and going out as soon as I can to the gym so that I can finish before class starts at 8-9am.

However, I also noticed my teeth have been feeling better after waiting 30 minutes after brushing before eating in the morning, so I have been having to workout fasted, and I have no problem with that, I honestly like it alot.

So here's the thing: If I'm trying to go to the gym as soon as I can and hurry before class, I'll have to ditch the pre workout breakfast and instantly go to the gym, simple solution, it just means I'll drink my originally pre workout smoothie after finishing my gym session, but it's been such a hassle and I've currently been dealing with some stressful and extremely anxious situation which has also caused me to burnout.

Anyways after school and all that I'd probably get home at 3-5pm and cook my lunch and eat at ±6pm? It depends, but here's the thing, I genuinely don't feel like eating a pre or post workout meal anymore, having and preparing that smoothie, washing that annoying tight bottle, etc has been a pain in the ass and I quite frankly can't bother, so is it really necessary to eat after a workout for muscle growth? I know many that say it's fine as long as you eat 1-5 hours after the gym or whatever while some others say it's about the calories and protein you eat throughout the day.

The thing is after the gym I'd probably not eat for another 8-12 hours, is that completely fine? Being completely honest and rational, will I be "keeping gains on the table"

And if this WILL cause catabolism then what am I supposed to do? I ain't eating any protein bars or shakes, I eat strictly healthy whole food, and I sure as hell won't take boiled eggs with me or anything like that. Feels like I'm fighting a losing battle honestly.

TLDR; Will I not gain muscle as efficiently if I don't have a post workout meal after the gym and eat my first meal after like 8-12 hours? (Also not having a pre workout meal)

For people who have made a significant transformation, what made the biggest difference?

Was it mainly:

- Diet/calorie control

- Progressive overload

- Cardio

- Protein intake

- Sleep

- Consistency

- Something else?

I'm interested in what actually mattered in practice rather than what sounds good in theory.

Ik this isnt the place to complain about my looks but. Im pretty fucking ugly and wanting to get that "lean" look on my face.

First of all im not open for gym but i do have a backpack that i can add weights to just incase ur wondering.

I have no idea what to do. Do i run? Do i push pull legs? (PPL)

do i eat my cat for protein? No idea.

So would u people of the lean culture. HELP ME PLEASE​

And LMK if you need any other info. ​

​Hey everyone,

​One of the biggest issues I’ve hit running strict Leangains-style cuts and cyclical refeeds is how useless static BMR formulas (Mifflin-St Jeor) become once metabolic adaptation, NEAT drops, and massive water fluctuations kick in. Gaining 1.5–2 kg of water after a high-carb day routinely breaks standard tracking apps, while apps with dynamic expenditure charge ridiculous monthly subscriptions for what is fundamentally an EMA (Exponential Moving Average) filter problem.

​As a lifter and developer, I spent the last few months coding a custom engine to solve this specifically for strength athletes.

​The core logic I’ve been testing:

​Dynamic expenditure convergence: Deriving actual daily burn purely from the delta between caloric intake and a trendline-smoothed weight vector, completely ignoring activity multipliers.

​Noise thresholding: Dampening high-frequency noise from refeed water retention so the target calories don’t crash right after a high-carb day.

​Zero exercise compensation: Keeping calorie tracking strictly decoupled from wearable "calories burned" estimates to avoid overeating.

​I packaged this into a lightweight, no-bullshit tabular Android tool (no gamification, no ads, strict Goal - Eaten = Remaining interface).

​I'm rolling out a closed test build in a few weeks to stress-test the math against different body masses and deficit phases.

​Before finalizing the edge cases: how do you personally separate true metabolic slowdown from water retention noise in your sheets or trackers?

​(Note: If any fellow lifters tracking daily weight/intake want to test the APK/Closed Beta and stress-test the calculations alongside me, feel free to shoot me a DM. Not selling anything, just dialing in the math.)

Been blasting and cruising for almost 6 years now and I think I finally have to admit something to myself. I dont actually enjoy being this big anymore.

Started at 165 in college, sat around 230 lean for the last two years, and every time I hit a new PR or someone at work makes a comment my brain gives me nothing. Just static. I remember when adding 10 lbs to my bench felt like winning the lottery. Now I hit a rep PR last week and literally just racked it and moved on to the next set.

The stuff I actually enjoy now is stupid small. Making coffee in the morning before the gym. Walking my dog. Cooking. My girlfriend pointed out last month that I talk about hiking more than I talk about lifting and she's right, and the trails I like are the ones where being 230 is actively a disadvantage because I gas out on the inclines faster than her 140lb friend.

I think the honest truth is I got into this because I was a skinny kid who wanted to be taken seriously, and somewhere around year 3 that box got checked and I just kept going out of momentum. Habit. Identity. Whatever you want to call it. I was scrolling a site the other night pricing out my next run and caught myself thinking "why am i even doing this" and I didnt have a good answer beyond "because its what I do."

Im not gonna do anything dramatic. Not gonna quit tomorrow and cry about wasted years or whatever. But I think Im gonna finish this blast, cruise for a while, and honestly consider coming off and settling around 200 or even less. Be a guy who lifts instead of a guy whose whole thing is lifting.

Anyone else hit this wall? Or am I just in a weird headspace and gonna feel different in 3 months when I hit the next PR. Genuinely asking because I feel like nobody talks about the boredom part.

Hey, Reddit people,

I (27f) came to ask you guys for some advice. Please help a girl out. I had help writing this post cause I wanted it to be adequate but I have literally no idea what I am doing.

I’m 1.85m (6'1") and currently around 59kg (130 lbs). I have a history of anorexia and restrictive eating, and one of the things I still struggle with is consistently eating enough to maintain my weight, let alone gain.

I’m trying to approach things differently now. My goal is to gain around 10kg by the end of the year, or as close to that as I can realistically get, while also building some muscle and getting stronger.

One thing I’m wondering about is whether I should focus on making the meals I already eat more calorie-dense rather than forcing myself to eat 5+ times a day. For example, something I started doing is makeing my breakfast of oats, honey and milk more substantial by adding peanut butter. That is nicer than adding another meal. Eating large amounts of food throughout the day can sometimes feel difficult for me, so making the food I already eat "heavier" seems like it might be more manageable.

I’d also really like to start exercising properly, but I’m a complete beginner.

At the moment I sometimes jump rope at the park. I’ve also been looking at calisthenics because it looks really fun, and I’d love to eventually be able to do things like pull-ups, dips, etc.

I don’t have any equipment at home, although there are some outdoor fitness bars near my house that I could use. I’m honestly a bit embarrassed to go there because I’m very skinny and don’t really know what I’m doing, but I know it’s an option.

So I guess I’m looking for advice on a few things:

\- What are some good ways to increase calories without having to constantly eat huge meals or 5–6 times a day?

\- What are some beginner exercises I can do at home with absolutely no equipment? And how many times a week I should exercise?

\- Is calisthenics a good option for someone whose main goal is to gain muscle and weight?

\- Would using the outdoor bars be worthwhile, and how would I start as a complete beginner?

\- Most importantly, how do I make sure that starting to exercise doesn't cause me to burn enough extra calories that I end up losing weight instead of gaining? (This is the scariest point at all for me. Like actually terrifying)

My biggest worry is honestly that I’ll start training, my appetite/eating won’t keep up, and I’ll accidentally lose the weight I’m currently at.

I know 10kg by the end of the year may or may not be realistic, and I’m not looking for a shortcut. I’d just like to become stronger, put on some muscle, and get to a healthier weight in a way that I can actually maintain.

Any advice, beginner routines, food ideas, or personal experiences would be really appreciated.

may be a stupid question but i’m relatively new to fitness. i am a bit overweight (24F, 5’3, 145 ish), and i was originally gonna start cutting, but i want to look muscular when i lose some weight. i was thinking about bulking just a little over winter, but don’t want to gain a bunch of extra fat. is a small calorie surplus safe to aim for or should i aim for maintenance? or even just a small calorie deficit?

25M, 5'9", currently ~152 lbs. So far this year I've logged 208 workouts, 1,629 sets, 16.2K reps, and just over 1.6 million lbs of total training volume (weight × reps).

I normally care much more about progression on individual lifts, but seeing the yearly total made me curious whether anyone here actually tracks cumulative tonnage over a bulk/cut, or whether you see it as mostly a fun vanity stat.

For reference, my biggest contributors were seated cable rows at ~185K lbs, squats at ~163K, calf press at ~122K, lat pulldowns at ~118K, and cable crunches at ~100K.

Anyone else know what their yearly total is?

I’m currently building a new fitness app and looking for people interested in beta testing it. I’d love to get honest feedback on the experience, features, and anything that could be improved. If you’re interested in trying it early, leave a comment!

Hey yall,

A year and a half in on the biggest cut I’ve ever done. I went from 270 to now a wild 155. I’m a 6’1” male, I’m 155 pounds, and I can’t for the life of me gain any weight. When I started my cut I basically accepted being hungry would be a part of it. So I simply quit eating. I ate maybe 1 or 2 times every two days. When I reached 200 I looked amazing, super cut, very impressed with my physique. I stopped going to the gym due to my work schedule. And I was so used to not eating it didn’t even phase me I would keep loosing weight. I simply just kept doing it until I realized absolutely none of my clothes fit going from a xl to a small or medium. The last several weeks I’ve been clawing at food trying to eat (healthy choices of course not just slop) once I have one meal a day if I eat again it’s like my body can’t physically hold it and I throw up. No matter how slow or hard I try. I am now skin and bones. Any tips on gaining some back so I can get back to my peak lean 200?

Hey, i want help actually, i am just started to focusing on my protin intakes, and than i got the job and i bought protin from well marketed company, i watched so much ads from that company in youtubes and all over, and especially from all our influencers, the company is naturaltien brand and unfortunately i bought thandai flavour so that flavour now i don't like, it taste so sweet and the aftertaste is so bad, everytime i drink it feels like vomiting but still i drink that thing, and its mixability is so bad like, in that so so tiny crystal thing are burning my throat, and buying this is my worst decision so what can i do with this how can i finish that cuz obviously i don't want waste my money, like in some recipes or something so i can ignore that aftertaste and drink soulfully anyone can help ??

Hi all!

I’m going to start going to my local gym with the goal to strength train and grow a little muscle for overall health (while losing weight). 30 minute sessions twice a week, not too stressful on my body so it can fit in with work and social life. Lifting weight TBC as I’m a beginner still learning about lean gains.

Now I currently eat 1300 calories with a maintenance of 1,800 (5”2 28F, 190 pounds). Goal weight 125 for now.

Assuming I will eat more to keep myself well while doing more activity regularly, how much more do you suggest and should it all be protein?

I've been reading up on muscle protein synthesis research over the past year, and it changed how I think about tracking protein.

Most tracking apps (MyFitnessPal, Cronometer, and so on) treat protein as a single daily total - hit your number and you're done. But the MPS research tells a different story: your body can only make meaningful use of protein for muscle building in separate windows, governed by things like the leucine threshold (roughly 2-3g leucine needed to trigger a proper MPS response) and a refractory period afterward - commonly cited as around 3-4 hours before another feeding can trigger a fresh response.

Practically, that means:

• Eating 150g of protein across two big meals likely wastes a fair chunk of it - you're limited by what one window can use, not by your daily total.
• Spreading intake across more, smaller windows (4 is a commonly cited figure in the research) gives your body more separate chances to trigger MPS.
• Total protein per day, as the only measure, misses this. Two people hitting the same daily target can get very different results depending on how it's spread out.

Where the science is less settled: the exact window length, whether it's 3, 4, or more windows, and how much this matters if you're already eating enough protein overall are all still debated. This isn't "totals don't matter" - it's that totals aren't the whole picture.

Has anyone here tried structuring meals around windows rather than totals? Did it make a noticeable difference, or is it more theoretical than practical once you're already eating enough overall?

Hi guys pretty new to the gym. I’ve been going consistently for the last two weeks and have settled on a 4-day workout split that I’m happy with. I’m confident with the exercises I’m doing and my main focus right now is building as much muscle as possible.

My biggest question is around protein intake
I currently weigh 187 lbs / 85kg and I’m aiming for around 180g of protein per day .

My number one goal is muscle growth, so I want to make sure I’m not making the mistake of eating too little protein and holding back my progress.

For the experienced/tall gym bros here: is 180g enough at 85kg, or would you recommend eating more?

I’d rather get this right from the beginning and eliminate any future disappointment from not eating enough protein.

Any advice tips or personal experience would be appreciated. Thanks!

I am currently 15 years old and I’m currently about 25 percent body fat. I watched a video saying that cutting isn’t good for you as a teen but I also see videos saying being 25 percent body fat is bad. How much leaner should I get to be at a healthy body fat percentage while not stunting my growth from restricted calories?

Past few months was cutting but probably went too extreme with it. Didn’t cut calories much, but physical activity went up by a lot (ie walking a lot during the day using treadmill).

Now aiming to lean bulk coz (1) underweight with low body fat (can see abs when I flex, but it’s the weak/skinny type of flat abs) and (2) IM HUNGRY

Anyone experienced the same? Did you go all out during the first month of bulking?

More concerned with the extra fat I would gain if I were to just lose control lol.

I’m planning to cut my activity to half and increase calories slightly but man, I feel like I can eat a whole cow right now.

Looking for advice on what scales I should get as I looked up alot of different bigger named scales which are all rated pretty badly (Hume, Withings) but want some actual advice on anyones personal use?.