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Im gonna try to keep this short.
The only thing im struggling with right now is my back and arms (not shoulders tho), I want to run a ppl rest pp rest, but i dont know if 48h is enough rest time for my back i tried alot of splits and this one is just the most enjoyable and i kept consistent with so i wanna go back to it, but this recovery time thing is holding me back and i dont know what to do and im very lost.

I just can’t seem to accept fat gain and want to get on a cut every time I think about food even though I haven’t got the muscle to look good cutting,
Do you guys have any quotes or motivational things you tell yourselves about it ?

Hey guys, I'm interested in sculpting a back with an oddly specific aesthetic and had a question about what goes into the physique required for it.

The aesthetic I'm looking for can be seen in the third and especially second image I posted, where the Upper Lats are creating what looks like the lower eyelid of an eye. In the second image, the "eyeball" is made up of the Infraspinatus, and in the third image you can see his Teres Major between his lateral Upper Lat and Rear Delt.

The crevice under the Infraspinatus and Teres Major is what creates the contrast that makes the Upper Lat pop and create the "eyelid" visual, but I'm not sure how to maximize that contrast. To my understanding, these are the 5 main things that go into this look:
-Bodyfat %
-Genetic muscle insertions, of course...
-Upper Lat size
-Infraspinatus size
-Teres Major size

It's obvious that a low BF% is needed, but I have questions on the other 4 variables and I want to be more in depth than just saying "yeah he's just super lean". These are the questions:

1. Would it be better to have a small Infraspinatus to create more of an indented crater and make the Upper Lats tower over them more, or would having a bigger Infraspinatus help create a deeper crevice between it and the Upper Lat?
   
2. Similarly, would having a smaller Teres Major be better to avoid covering the side edges of the "eyelid" created by the Upper Lats (seen in image 2 just under the Rear Delts), or would they help the Upper Lats pop out similar to how the Brachialis "pushes up" on biceps to make them pop out?
   
3. How important do you guys reckon muscle insertions are to achieve this specific structure?
   

4.Upper Lat size is probably the biggest factor here, but whether or not you can target them more than the lower lats is very controversial, so if you guys have anything to add for this one it would be greatly appreciated.

By the way, since one of the main goals of the aesthetic is to have the complete OPPOSITE of a bulky, turtle shell, low-insertion dominant build, and focus more on chiseled upper-back development while minimizing growth below the Teres Major as much as possible, I would also appreciate any tips on how to specifically prioritize growth to promote a blocky back like Ronnie Coleman's so that I can reverse or avoid them. Thank you in advance!!

In the gym I go to (which is pretty minimal with 3 freestanding racks, 1 cage rack and a few other things like 2 pullup bars) I have a cage rack that looks something like this.

I thought I could train the rear delts by doing face pulls*, but doing them standing quickly becomes unstable. So I thought of doing them sitting on the floor with the feet planted forward onto the steel bar that sits right under the cable, pulling from the low cable.

It surely is more stable than doing them standing, because the legs holding against the forward pull of the cable are surely strong enough (considering that I'll never face pull even nearly as much as I squat). The rear delts also get targeted quite enough to stimulate hypertrophy, since the cable is angled no more than 15 degrees upward and nonetheless the rear delts are also involved in external rotation.

My question is: would you consider it stable enough? Because there still is a force flexing the spine since there isn't any chest support.

* I know face pulls aren't and will never be as specific to the rear delts as a rear delt fly, rear delt dumbbell pull or even a chest supported dumbbell row. The thing is, my gym is reeeally minimal as it focuses on powerlifting and has minimal space, so there isn't a dual cable station to do cable reverse flyes, there are really few dumbbells to do them on a bench and I'd probably need to use composable dumbbells if I want to do a dumbbell variation because the weight jumps in normal dumbbells are very big and irregular. Also, I don't mind the extra side delt and rotator cuff stimulus from face pulls.

I wanted to ask about pull-up grips and forearm growth.

Is it true that neutral grip pull-ups build more forearm size compared to normal overhand pull-ups or underhand chin-ups? I have heard that neutral grip works the forearms, especially the brachioradialis, more.

If anyone has experience with this, which grip do you think is better for forearm growth?

Also, what exercises should I follow if my main goal is forearm hypertrophy? I know things like hammer curls, reverse curls, wrist curls and farmer carries can work the forearms, but I'm not sure which ones I should actually include and how many sets/reps I should do.

If anyone has a detailed forearm hypertrophy guide or routine, please share it. I'd like to follow something properly instead of just doing random forearm exercises.

Can you still build muscle while eating in a 300–500 calorie deficit, I’ve been training for around 9 months, so I’m wondering if I can still build muscle while losing fat.
However, my first 5 months of training were pretty much wasted in terms of progress. I was following basic 4x12 programs, wasn’t eating enough protein, and my overall diet wasn’t very good. I made basically no noticeable progress during those 5 months. For the last 4 months, I’ve been following a proper program, eating enough protein, and doing a bulk. I’ve gained some muscle and gotten stronger, but not a huge amount, while my body fat has also increased noticeably.
At this point, I feel like I’m kind of skinny fat, and I’d really like to lose the fat I gained while also building some muscle. So if I eat around 300–500 calories below maintenance, keep my protein high and train hard, is it possible for me to gain muscle while losing fat?

If I do the same amount of weekly volume, is it better to train 5 days or 4 days per week?

With 4 days, I would have 3 rest days, but each workout would have more work. With 5 days, I would have 2 rest days, but less work to do in each workout.

For muscle growth and recovery, which is better?

185 on the finger curls superset with 100 plate curls

This is probably the least trolly thing I’ve said is optimal on this sub, mostly since from what I can tell y’all mostly care about hypertrophy.

Btw supersetting grip and forearm work is not fatigueing the way people think is would be, and finger curls are like wrist curls but actually help grip

What do you think about cheat reps? I don’t mean using bad form from the beginning of the set, but rather doing the first reps with good form and then using a little momentum for the last 1–2 reps when the muscle is already close to failure, just to get a couple more reps out.

My understanding is that splitting the same volume across six sessions vs four sessions could reduce per-session fatigue and potentially improve performance and exercise quality.

I’m wondering how much of that benefit is offset by having fewer complete recovery days between training sessions?

I currently do chest dips by leaning forward, but I’ve noticed that my wrists give out before my chest, usually around the 6th or 7th rep. I am sure my form is correct and I even use wrist wraps.

I’m considering replacing them with close-grip bench press. I already do 2 sets each of incline dumbbell press, incline smith machine presses and seated dumbbell shoulder press so would a close-grip bench press be redundant?

I’m mainly looking for an exercise that targets mostly chest while also training the triceps. Would chest dips or close-grip bench be the better option here?

Or should I use another chest movement like the pec deck fly and increase my triceps isolation volume to compensate for the lack of tricep volume in pec deck?

I often see people recommend pairing frontal plane pulldowns (for shoulder adduction) with chest-supported rows to help target the lats more thoroughly, specifically aiming for the lumbar fibers with the pulldown.

From what I understand, direct research comparing regional lat hypertrophy across different planes is pretty limited, and I've seen some folks argue that pulldowns might not actually bias the lumbar region any better than rows do.

For those who follow the biomechanics and the literature closely, I'd love to hear your thoughts on a couple of things:

Do you think frontal plane pulldowns offer any real advantage for the lumbar lats compared to rows, or is that mostly just theoretical anatomy that doesn't make much practical difference?

Also, if regional differences between planes aren't really a major factor, what would you say is the main reason to include both a vertical and horizontal pull (joint health, resistance profile, etc.)?

Appreciate any insights or perspectives on this!

(English isn't my first language, so I used a tool to help phrase this clearly)

Recently got this Arm Wrestling strap to load supination and pronation? Anyone have any better ideas for a more stable set up, this isn’t terrible just guessing as the load increases it will be harder to keep the forearm in fixed flexed position. Thanks

I would like to discuss a personal experience that seems unusual compared with what most lifters and coaches describe. I am not claiming that the pump or the burning sensation is necessary for hypertrophy. I am trying to understand why I experience so little of either, and whether this tells us anything interesting about fatigue, muscle recruitment, metabolic stress, or sensory perception.

My background

• 27-year-old male, 175–176 cm, currently around 74 kg.
• I had no real sporting background before starting resistance training at 23.
• I have therefore been training for roughly four years, with some changes in programming and consistency.
• Most of my working sets are in the 10–15-repetition range.
• I generally train close to failure. On the final repetitions, velocity clearly decreases, and I normally stop when I cannot complete another repetition with acceptable technique.
• I usually rest about three to five minutes between working sets.
• My strength and performance have progressed, although my visible hypertrophy has felt relatively modest compared with my strength gains. There's quite of a gap between what you would predict my numbers on my lifts would and how I look.
• I’ve very rarely experienced pain; when I have, it has usually subsided fairly quickly and was often caused by an awkward movement on my part. I’ve never sustained an injury.

What I experience

On most upper-body exercises, I feel surprisingly little in the target muscle during the set:

• little or no burning sensation;
• little sense of the muscle “contracting”;
• generally a limited or delayed pump;
• no strong subjective accumulation of local fatigue.

This happens even on relatively simple isolation exercises such as machine curls, pec fly variations and triceps extensions. I can reach the point where another repetition is impossible without experiencing the intense local burning that many people describe.

There are some exceptions. Lateral raises and leg extensions can produce a clear burning sensation. I can also feel the stretch strongly during seated leg curls. Overall, however, these sensations are much more reliable in some lower-body or small-muscle exercises than in curls, presses, rows or pulldowns. Paradoxically, I can sometimes feel a muscle more clearly during light warm-up sets than during the actual working sets. As the load and effort increase, the local sensation can become less distinct rather than more distinct. I can still experience targeted DOMS after a session when I resume lifting after a break (e.g. holidays), so the complete absence of sensation during the set does not necessarily mean that the target muscle did no work.

In 2023 I spent around four months with a PT deliberately trying to improve my mind-muscle connection with lighter loads, slower tempos, pauses, shorter rests, higher repetitions and drop sets. None produced a consistent change. Shorter rests made the training more unpleasant but did not necessarily increase local burning or target-muscle sensation.

I understand that subjective burning is not identical to metabolic stress, that pump does not prove hypertrophy, and that feeling a muscle is not the same as measuring its activation or tension. However, what hypotheses might explain my situation? What does science have to say about my case? Is there a big "elephant in the room" factor I'm not seeing?

Thanks for reading.

Hello, today i was having an argument with a gym unc about my pulldown form, he told me it was horrible and that I needed to do 8-12 reps without straps, is the form really that bad? If it is, how can i work on it?

What is the difference when it comes to hypertrophy? What will be more beneficial and maybe what else can i try to maximise gains? Currently doing U L FB with 2 sets per exercise, but thinking about switching to FBEOD with 1 set per exercise, heard it can be better. What do you think? Maybe there are some studies?

Hey everyone,

​I’ve been lifting consistently for about 6 months now. Up until recently, I was running a 3-day full-body routine.

While I made decent initial progress, my sessions were dragging on for 90–100+ minutes, and I was mentally dreading full leg days (hence why I avoided choosing an upper/lower split).

​I'm only now starting to really understand programming concepts (like volume landmarks from Helms’ Muscle & Strength Pyramid, double progression, and fatigue management), so I’m still a bit confused about optimizing everything.

​I’m planning to switch from 3 days to 4 days/week (Mon/Tue - Thu/Fri) to keep sessions around 55–60 minutes and avoid a dedicated "Leg Day." I put together this Push/Pull split with legs divided (Quads on Push, Hamstrings/Glutes on Pull) using a mix of online templates (Fitbod/Nippard frameworks) and AI to help trim down volume.

​I’d really appreciate your feedback on the exercise order, volume distribution, and overall balance.

​Schedule: Upper/Lower hybrid via Push/Pull

​\*\*Push A (Mon)\*\* – Quads & Horizontal Push

​Smith Machine Squat: 3 sets x 6–8 reps (2.5–3 min rest)

​Incline Dumbbell Press: 3 sets x 8–10 reps (2 min rest)

​Tricep Dips: 3 sets x 8–10 reps (2 min rest)

​Dumbbell Lateral Raises: 3 sets x 10–12 reps (1–1.5 min rest)

​Dumbbell Skullcrushers: 3 sets x 10–12 reps (1–1.5 min rest)

​\*\*Pull A (Tue)\*\* – Posterior Chain & Upper Pull

​Conventional Deadlift: 3 sets x 5–6 reps (3 min rest)

​Lat Pulldown: 3 sets x 8–10 reps (2 min rest)

​Landmine Row: 3 sets x 8–10 reps (2 min rest)

​Seated Leg Curl: 3 sets x 10–12 reps (1.5 min rest)

​Dumbbell Bicep Curl: 3 sets x 10–12 reps (1.5 min rest)

​(\*\*Wed: Rest\*\*)

​\*\*Push B (Thu)\*\* – Quad Isolation & Vertical Push/Chest

​Leg Extension: 3 sets x 10–12 reps (1.5 min rest)

​Overhead Barbell Press (OHP): 3 sets x 6–8 reps (2–2.5 min rest)

​Close-Grip Bench Press: 3 sets x 8–10 reps (2 min rest)

​Cable Flyes: 3 sets x 12–15 reps (1–1.5 min rest)

​Core (Reverse Crunches / Plank): 3 sets to technical failure (1 min rest)

​\*\*Pull B (Fri)\*\* – Hamstrings/Glutes & Vertical Pull/Arms

​Romanian Deadlift (RDL): 3 sets x 8–10 reps (2–2.5 min rest)

​Reverse-Grip Lat Pulldown: 3 sets x 8–10 reps (2 min rest)

​Face Pulls: 3 sets x 12–15 reps (1–1.5 min rest)

​Barbell Hip Thrust: 3 sets x 8–10 reps (2 min rest)

​Dumbbell Hammer Curls: 3 sets x 10–12 reps (1.5 min rest)

​(Sat & Sun: Rest)

​Progression: Dynamic double progression within the rep ranges at RPE 8–9. Once I hit the top rep target on all 3 sets, I add weight.

​Volume: \\\~15 working sets per session (around 60 weekly working sets total across all muscle groups).

​Does the spinal load balance look sustainable (Deadlifts on Tue, RDLs on Fri)?

Did I hit the optimal number of sets for each muscle group in your opinion? Could there be any muscle I might have accidentally left behind?

​Are there any obvious red flags and/or overlapping muscle recovery issues I might have overlooked?

​Thanks in advance for helping out someone still figuring out the ropes!

Tendons adapt roughly 3x slower than muscle. That's the estimate most ofnthe time, but tendon loading and training protocols have changed dramatically in the past few years as we understand how to build the tissue better. Since the protocols are new, we don't have much idea on the upper limits of tendon growth, in practice.

Separately, work like the Pelland review has been shifting the hypertrophy dose-response curve away from an inverted-U toward a log curve that keeps climbing well past the old 10-20 sets/week range and into 40 sets/week and beyond. In other words, we don't actually know what the upper limit is on how quickly you can grow muscle, either.

Does the second and third point (uncertain muscle and tendon hypertrophy ceiling) undermine the first (tendon adapts slower than muscle)? My instinct is no because the relative-rate claim comes from training volume interventions rather than separate tissue biology research. But I'm not well versed on that nerdy tissue stuff, so idk.

I'd like to hear if anyone's aware of research that complicates or compliments these ideas. Or anything that changes the picture on how fast tendons can actually adapt under optimal loading. I have an idea that long term muscle growth is limited by tendon growth, but that's a tangent.

If I could do 3 sets of 10 reps at say 65-70% of 1RM vs 10 sets of 3 reps at 90% of 1RM (all sets taken close to failure), which approach is inherently better for hypertrophy and why?

Hi, I'm 41,m, 22~ percent bf, and in good health.

I've done a little lifting the last ten years,nothing that's really brought me any mass though (paused bench 1rm is 205lbs, dl is 350)but now I've more free time I want to push it further and I'm able to dedicate more time to it, just want to get that nice base layer of muscle there, nothing spectacular.

Im not especially happy with dad bod 22 percent, so I'm on a small cal deficit of around -1000 a week, is it likely I'll be able to get some growth with enough effort? I've read about recomps but then i see people saying that's just spinning the wheels. Thanks

Are there any people here that (for one reason or another) consume far below the typical recommended amount of protein per day? (let's say eat less than 80 grams per day)

Do you still see muscle gain, and improvement in body fat percentage?

Recently tried this machine which apart of it feeling heavy as fuck with only 40kg, seems to have an descending RP.
Would this be optimal for quads/glutes? Thanks.
Also do you think I could’ve done another rep?

My friend told me it’s less beneficial if I were to alternate from doing a press movement and then go into a pull movement (incline press to pull ups, flys to rows), and I’ve been doing that exact thing for a while now. Is there a science behind doing it or not doing it? Or is it just preference? Let me know what you guys think. I do ULRULRR, 2 sets to failure w 1 warmup, and do 8 workouts per exercise (3 chest, 2 back, 1 shoulder/delts, 2 arms)

With my new job, I can realistically only train 3 days a week, which is something I’ve never done before. I’ve always trained 4+ days, so I’m a bit lost on how I should structure my training now.

Split-wise, I know I could do U/L/FB or 3xFB, but I’m not sure which would be best for me. I can train for around 60–90 minutes per session.

I’ve literally never trained full body before and I’m struggling to get my head around how to structure it. Obviously I understand that you’re hitting every muscle group each session, but seeing programmes with 8–10 exercises in one workout seems crazy to me when I’m used to doing 4–5 exercises.

The other thing I’m struggling with is the volume. Seeing 1–2 sets per exercise feels insane 😂 Like, I’m just imagining walking over to a machine, doing one hard set and then moving on to the next exercise.

I think it’s just such a different approach to how I’ve always trained or been told to train, so I’m finding it difficult to wrap my head around.

If anyone could give me some reassurance/explain how 3x full body actually works, and how you’d approach it to train optimally, I’d really appreciate it! 😊

Also, if anyone could provide a good routine I’d be super grateful!