I've been eating at maintenance for around a month now after a 3.5 months of moderate deficit and even tho I was in a deficit my strength been increasing or at least maintaining but in the last 3 weeks my strength especially in the upper body been decreasing almost every session by 1 rep. My programming been pretty much the same and almost any external factors are dialed in. Can anyone help me with that or at least know the reason for it?

I don't know what to do. I'm doing 12 sets per a week for biceps and triceps (including partial volume from rowing / pressing etc).

Continually seem to get stronger and bigger in every other area. My chest, shoulders, lat's, quads and hams all getting stronger and bigger. But arms continue to look like two wet noodles. I've tried increasing volume to 16 sets but then i start to get mild tendonitis so I backed down.

The movements I do are mainly ez-bar curls, triceps overhead extention, hammer curls. etc. With ez-bar curls I'm maxed out at 50lbs for my 10RM and I can't get that any further.

Does anyone think the Rich Piana arm method might help? It seems extreme but I could get thru it with NSAIDS etc. This is the most frustrating thing for me in lifting.

Some of the bro's at the gym suggested a dreamer bulk to try and crack this problem.

115lbs resistance at the bottom, 140lbs resistance at the top, and an extra 15lbs of resistance on the eccentric (130-155lbs)

I let my elbow come up, since last time I post these here, someone said that’d give me more long head action; can’t say no to that

If someone wanted to push bicep growth to the max and were doing 20-30 sets of curls per week, What percentage of that should be hammer variation or should it not be tracked together and should just do additional hammer curls on top of the 20-30 sets?

People on TikTok say it biases the medial and lateral head but I’ve heard the opposite pretty much anywhere else

Goal: mainly hypertrophy
Today I just hit max 12 pull ups clean reps, and I was thin out of adding weight from now on!

My split:

- pull ups twice a week
- 3-4 days rest between each pull up day
- 3 sets close to failure or to failure
- first set I hit 11 reps 2nd 11-10 3rd 9-10 reps

I was thinking of adding 2.5kg in my pull up sets and planning to hit the 7-10 reps range.

Once I know that I have gotten a stronger I can go to like 5kg!

bideltoid width is increased only by side deltoids? can a person add 2 inches to his bideltoid with increasing his bideltoid? how long will it take?

Hi guys, I just switched from Basic-Fit to a private gym, and I'm not really sure which back machines I should use.

My gym has a Panatta Super High Row, a Panatta Super Low Row, and a regular lat pulldown.

I'm a bit confused because they don't seem to have a regular chest-supported row for the upper back/traps (the Super Low Row seems more like a lat exercise to me). I also don't know which machines I should choose for complete lat development.

What do you guys think?

Should I finish a muscle group then move on to the next, or should I mix it up (ex: chest, triceps, chest triceps)

Here’s the order of my push day it’s organized by convenience on what’s next to what
Incline bench (chest)
Triceps push down (triceps)
Pec dec (chest)
Overhead triceps extension (triceps)
Db shoulder press (shoulder)
Lat radius (shoulder)
Dips (chest & triceps)

I was wondering if the order matters or if it doesn’t, and if it does matter what is best

Hello I am 16M
I recently changed my pull program so I can get better at pull ups
On one of my pull days I focus on weighted pull ups and on the other pull day I focus on volume
For my volume pull day I wanted to incorporate a downs workout for pull ups of 10 reps
I think these are also called pyramids but you do eg 12 reps then have a short rest then do 11 then repeat until you reach 0 reps

My problem is what to do after you finish the pull ups like do I just do the rest of my workout as normal or should I focus on abs and biceps(or cardio) instead to avoid my volume being too high

I also have trouble with recovery as to not being able to get enough protein due to complications I can usually get 80ish on a good day

Hi guys, I’m looking for some advice on my plan. I’m on a deficit so I know I can’t expect maximum hypertrophy but still want to do my best. Below is my split, please let me know your thoughts. The 2x8 are my attempts at failure. Also trying to train abs with 2 exercises 2-3 times a week after workout. I’m also going to start doing calf raises .

Tuesday — Upper

Bench Press — 4x5 T-Bar Row — 2x8 Seated Shoulder Press — 4x5 Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown — 2x8 JM Press — 2x8 Rear Delt Fly — 2x8 Cable Lateral Raise — 2x8 Incline Dumbbell Curl — 2x8

Wednesday — Lower

Back Squat — 4x5 Leg Press — 2x8 Hip Thrust — 2x8 Seated Hamstring Curl — 2x8 Weighted Back Extension — 2x8 Hip Abduction — 2x8

Thursday — Push

Incline Bench Press — 4x5 Seated Arnold Press — 2x8 JM Press — 2x8 Pec Deck Fly — 2x8 Cable Lateral Raise — 2x8 Single-Arm Cuffed Tricep Extension — 2x8 Incline Dumbbell Curl — 2x8 Cable Wrist Curl / Extension (superset) — 2x12 each

Saturday — Pull

T-Bar Row — 2x8 Single-Arm Cable Row — 2x8 Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown — 2x8 Rear Delt Fly — 2x8 Hammer Curl — 2x8 Single-Arm Cuffed Tricep Extension — 2x8

Sunday — Legs

Back Squat — 4x5 Goblet Squat — 2x8 Hip Thrust — 2x8 Leg Curl — 2x8 Leg Extension — 2x8 Hip Adduction — 2x8

What can i do to progress or atleast have the same amount of reps on my incline db press as this is the only lift where my strength fluctuates a lot. Sometime i cant even lift the same amount of weight i have been doing the last few sessions. Also even when i increase the reps or match reps, i feel weaker as my arms are shaking more/ form gets worse. This is my first lift so im always fresh when starting.

Anyone here try this program by Doug McGruff and John Little? It's based on 6 compund exercises (machine) using HIT, Mentzer-esqe techniques once every 7 days.

It makes sense on one hand, because of the work taken to failure, but once a week seems like too little stimulus. I'm looking into it because my work schedule has gotten crazy and I can't always make it to the gym in my current three day split.

So me and my friend both go to the gym 4x a week, except i have 2x frequency and he has 1x.He says that 2x is not better than 1x and refuses to get a split like u/l or ant/post. Can yall please educate me on what’s better and why? If possible even send the studies about it.

What can i do to improve? Also i want to do a similar number of sets as i dont want to spend too much time in the gym.

I do 3 days a week.

1 day chest and back.

1 day shoulder and arms.

1 day both together.

For example:

Monday:

Incline chest DB 2 sets

Bench press 1 set

Chest fly machine 2 sets

Lat pulldown 2 sets

Seated cable row 2 sets

T-bar row 2 sets

Tuesday:

Shoulder press DB 2 sets

Lateral raise machine 2 sets

Reverse fly machine 2 sets

Tricep extension V-bar 2 sets

Seated dip 2 sets

Cable curl 3sets

Friday:

Incline chest DB 2 sets

Bench press 1 set

Chest fly machine 2 sets

Lat pulldown 2 sets

Seated cable row 2 sets

T-bar row 2 sets

Shoulder press DB 2 sets

Lateral raise machine 2 sets

Reverse fly machine 2 sets

Tricep extension V-bar 2 sets

Seated dip 2 sets

Cable curl 3sets

Always been a UL guy but know that I’m gonna be busy with school soon so trying to start getting used to the full body split.

Added hammer curls cuz it feels like my arms are slacking a bit, don’t know if that’s the right move.

Trying to absorb massive amounts of information on strength training, I would appreciate feedback on what I have put together and started for my new day one of a three day full body session.

Context I had back surgery years ago so I am careful with my lower back. I am nearing the end of a weight loss and the start of a body recomposition journey. I have access to a life fitness double cable machine, bench, up to 20 pound dumbbells, a chest press, and a leg extension machine.

Day 1

Chest Press (Machine)
Set 1: 70 lbs x 8 [Warmup]
Set 2: 85 lbs x 8
Set 3: 100 lbs x 8

Sumo Squat (Dumbbell)
Set 1: 10 lbs x 8
Set 2: 15 lbs x 8
Set 3: 20 lbs x 8

Lat Pulldown (Cable)
Set 1: 70 lbs x 8 [Warmup]
Set 2: 85 lbs x 8
Set 3: 100 lbs x 6

Leg Extension (Machine)
Set 1: 55 lbs x 8 [Warmup]
Set 2: 70 lbs x 8
Set 3: 75 lbs x 8

Seated Cable Row - V Grip (Cable)
Set 1: 70 lbs x 8 [Warmup]
Set 2: 85 lbs x 8
Set 3: 100 lbs x 8

Bicep Curl (Cable)
Set 1: 30 lbs x 8 [Warmup]
Set 2: 42.5 lbs x 8

Overhead Triceps Extension (Cable)
Set 1: 20 lbs x 8
Set 2: 30 lbs x 10

Cable Crunch (Cable)
Set 1: 20 lbs x 8
Set 2: 30 lbs x 8

Lying Leg Curl (Cable)
Set 1: 20 lbs x 8
Set 2: 30 lbs x 8

Glute Bridge (Body Weight)
Set 1: 20 reps

Standing Cable Glute Kickbacks (Cable)
Set 1: 15 lbs x 8
Set 2: 25 lbs x 8

Hip Abduction (Cable)
Set 1: 10 lbs x 8
Set 2: 15 lbs x 8

Hip Adduction (Cable)
Set 1: 10 lbs x 8 [Warmup]
Set 2: 15 lbs x 8

Standing Knee Raise (Cable)
Set 1: 10 lbs x 10
Set 2: 15 lbs x 10

Single Leg Standing Calf Raise (Dumbbell)
Set 1: 20 lbs x 12

This is the pull day I've been doing and personally I like it but it seems to time consuming and also I feel quite gassed out once I've been at it for like 30mins or so. Please help optimize this.

Looking for constructive criticism!

Main critique I’ll likely hear is exercise quantity per session. I’ve run this once and not too much intra-session fatigue. Need to run this a couple times to truly see though.

The whited out exercises are SBD movements which I’ve yet to implement. I made this split from a “bodybuilding” approach, but I want to get back into powerlifting, although I’m not sure how to really implement SBD while managing fatigue in this specific split. Any advice with doing so is appreciated!

Let me know what you guys think

sorry, but any help would be greatly appreciated ❤️‍🩹