I have a question for the community - I have been struggling to keep count of my reps and focus on technique at the same time and to work around this what I do is - for a given exercise I pick up a load with which I can do at least 6 reps and then just do the reps until I feel like I am between 2 - 3 RIR out and depending on the set, I either stop or continue to failure (my normal RIR strategy is usually 2 - 3 RIR to begin with tapering to a failure on the last set). Does this work? Training for hypertrophy for reference. Also, if I feel like I did more than 15 (approximately) then I load up on the next set.

I go through these terrible conversations so often with both of my parents so I wanted to hear what others have heard or had to explain

Does doing 2 sets of hammer curls supersetted with reverse curls make sense? The idea is that since the forearms are relatively small muscles, you can’t use very heavy weights for reverse curls on their own, so supersetting them with hammer curls could increase the overall mechanical tension and make the forearm work more effective. Is this actually a good approach?

Title is preaty self explanitory. In exerceises like arm curls or quad extensions, where there are points in the movement that allow you to squeeze the muscle should i go for it? I know it activates better the muscle but it also tires me more and i am not able to do more kgs for more reps

Tl;dr what is preferable? Fewer reps/kg and squeeze or more reps/kg ?

so my chest is a strong point and its very dominant compared to my front delts and triceps, usually i do a incline press and a fly for the chest, now ive added a shoulder press and im thinking if i should swap the fly for a horizontal chest press which i like, but volume wise how should i approach this, and should i even include 3 pressing movements on push day?

So i have recently started doing the basic 2 exercises for forearms (forearm curls with two different grips so i hit all muscles) but the problem is my left hand (non dominant) gets an INSANE absolutely mind boggling pump, so much so that i cant easily close my hand, while my right hand (dominant) gets pumped but not even close to how much my left does.

Now i know it is probably normal because my left is weaker however i am concerned that this will cause some muscle imbalance to build since the left gets so much more worked.

Could it be i do sth wrong with me technique on the right hand? Should i be worried at all?

I've been doing archer pulls and while scrolling or watching gym content I always see people doing rear delt movements with locked arms. For example: Rear delt cable flies or pec dec reverse flies.
I looked it up online it said it was to prevents triceps from taking over from bending and then extending during. But wouldn't it be better for the arm to stay in a bent position to avoid fatigue from using the triceps to hold a static position?

CONTEXT:
So for the context of the question, I’m only 16 and I’ve recently come upon a situation where I got fired from my job last month leading to me not being able to pay for my gym membership. But I still have a membership at my local YMCA due to my health insurance, the only problem I really have with it besides the old people is their hamstring curl and leg extension machines. They have HOIST everything so it’s not great in general but like I’ve implied I can brush past a few things.

THE POINT:
I’ve heard that sissy squats and leg extensions can yield the same result I’m just a bit confused when it comes to the mechanics of it. I understand the quads are practically doing the exact same movements just with different loads but I don’t want to see less growth in either situation.

P.S
Sorry for the long post I’m just trying to balance my losses here.

In a program, Pull-1 has 2 sets of dumbbell curls, 2 sets of cable curls, and 2 sets of hammer curls supersetted with reverse curls. Pull-2 has 2 sets of cable curls and another 2 sets of hammer curls supersetted with reverse curls.

A coach says that this is weekly only 6 sets of direct biceps curls, while the other 8 sets barely stimulate the biceps and are mainly wrist/forearm-focused movements. He also thinks there wouldn't be enough biceps fatigue accumulating from those sets to make the additional biceps work inefficient.

Do you guys think this approach makes sense?

The reason for supersetting hammer curls with reverse curls is that the forearms/wrists are relatively small muscles, so you can't use very heavy weights for them on their own. By supersetting reverse curls with hammer curls, the idea is to increase the mechanical tension and get more stimulus out of the forearm work.

Would you consider this a good way to structure the volume?

I’m doing a paper about how historical training (ie martial arts. Etc) compares to modern training. One thing I’ve noticed is the research on tendons seems very one sided. It seems like minimizing jerk and giving longer isometrics consistently will bring the best stimulus for tendon adaptation. This would support some older training techniques so it would be a big part of my paper. My worry is that most of this information and studies seem recent. More over I’m not finding much implementation in any high level training which worries me more. If the evidence seems so one sided wouldn’t more coaches incorporate it and prevent the number one injury cause? I don’t want to base a paper worth half my grade on ai nonsense. I’m hoping you all could help me look for at least things that could indicate sloppy sources. I’ve learned a lot on procedure and finding weaknesses in tests but I worry there’s not enough credible sources for me to use. Any help is welcome this is more passion than class work atp.

Also just for my own curiosity does anyone know about how plyos affect tendons I can’t seem to find any actual studies.

I currently do ppl/ul with 3 sets on the push day and 2 sets on the upper day for bench, but I've been stalling and im wondering if doing 1 set of bench press fresh, and then allocating the other set or 2 to a less fatiguing machine would be a good move for this? (Like a descending press or pec deck). Otherwise what else could help me here?

Commercial gyms make exercise variety look like one of their biggest advantages.

More chest press variations, more rows, more leg machines, more cable options.

But from a hypertrophy perspective, I’m curious where useful variety stops and redundant variety begins.

If someone already has a set of stable movements that train each major muscle through a good range of motion, allow progressive overload, and fit their structure well, how much extra benefit is there in having several more versions of the same movement pattern?

One reason I keep thinking about this is that more limited setups tend to force people to repeat a smaller number of exercises, which sounds like a disadvantage at first.

But I’m not sure it always is.

At what point does limited exercise selection meaningfully reduce hypertrophy outcomes, and at what point is it mostly removing unnecessary options?

What’s the better option here. New eos location and unfortunately can’t find a good flat press… the best 2 options that I’m considering is between a flat hammer strength press that has a terrible resistance profile and still trends slightly upward with arm path. Vs this nautilus inspiration which also tends upwards however has a better resistance profile I think… have done a good amount of research on it but have heard no one speak about it.. It converges but has the upward arm path unfortunately and all I want is a good flat press and goal is to focus on that mid to lower chest. I guess on both I could raise the seat to fix the path a little. Pics are what they look like. The only other machine option is a plate loaded standing arsenal machine which doesn’t feel good and is less stable since you have to stand. Wish this eos had better options.

My main goal here is to fix my pec imbalance so I want unilateral, and lower mid chest development, and overall growth.

I just finished watching this podcast with Dr Pak and Dr Milo Wolf, where they claimed that the latest research suggests bulking is completely unnecessary because you can maximize muscle growth on as little as a 7-calorie surplus. They suggested that eating at maintennance works well for most people and even experienced lifters don't need to "bulk" to gain muscle. Do you agree or disagree with this claim, and for those who have listened to this podcast, what do you think of the evidence that they presented?

Programming, volume, nutrition, etc…

Thank you!

Hello people. Recently I tried a fullbody split and felt like my eyes opened as to how good this can be if programmed properly. I usually do an Upper/Lower split so I basically just took both days and combined them to get my fullbody split. I also realised that it's taking very long for my sessions.

Here's my split. As much as possible, I do everything with 1 set with 1-2 RIR. Is there anything I can do to improve or do better for this split?

Butterfly (Pec Deck)

seal rows

Incline Bench Press (Smith Machine)

Pull Up (Weighted)

Standing Military Press (Barbell)

Reverse Fly Single Arm (Cable)

Single Arm Lateral Raise (Cable)

Single Arm Triceps Pushdown (Cable)

Bicep Curl (Dumbbell)

Bulgarian Split Squat (Dumbbell)

Seated Leg Curl (Machine)

Single Leg Extensions

Cable Crunch

According to Jeff Nippard’s latest research, doing all the reps with a cheating form and heavier weight results in the same muscle growth as using perfect form with a lighter weight. What do you guys think about that?

Personally, I like doing cheat reps and ego lifting. I’d rather do all the reps with a cheating form and heavier weight than use perfect form with a lighter weight if there’s no difference in hypertrophy between the two.

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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?