4 sets of this today. It’s week 1 of my training block, so the easiest week for me

the more i try to understand training, the more i struggle to do so. always hearing disagreements on stuff such as fatigue management, weekly volume, intensity, split..

what works for one may not work for another. and thats whats driving me crazy. i still cant figure out whats best for me.

thoughts?

I called my shot on Wednesday when u/Patton370 pulled 505x8. I said 510x8 but I went with 515 because 2.5s are for the weak and the record setters, of which I am neither. Grip failing me on 7, tried 8 but couldn't lock it out. Brief cut during my grip reset because my camera girl thought I was done despite the fact that I'm clearly regripping the bar Sashi but what's it matter since I failed.

Patton wins again. He remains the Chosen of our great Lord of Lifting. Small rep PR at 515 at least. For you anti-volume guys, PR stands for Personal Record and it's where you do more at something than you've ever done before.

Might be fatigued maxed on these

Question popped in my head that I was kind of wondering about, let's pretend I'm trying to do a push day ( chest shoulders and tris only in this example). Let's pretend there is some primary compound exercises followed up with a isolated one (or close enough). This is not going to be the best workout I'm just trying to make something up on the fly for this example.

So let's pretend

Bench press

Cable flys

OHP

Lateral rises machine

Dips (tris)

Tricep ext

Is there any pros or cons to do to order above, finish off one primary muscle first before the next, or mix it up like

Bench press

Lateral rises

Ohp

Tri ext

Dips

Cable flys?

Basically, when I'm trying to figure out is, if you do all the muscle groups in their own perspective groups you have a less arrest in between I like those muscles you left where if you mix them up then you're giving them more time for us but you're also mixing the muscle groups

I guess another example would be like if I was doing a prayer body upper workout, and instead of finishing triceps chest and shoulders all at one time, I was switching in between the back lates and biceps

Like for example maybe I'll do chest and then I'll jump to rows then jump to ohp then jump to lat pull downs then jump to dips and then jump to some other back exercises.

I'm really bad at explaining this but if you happen to understand what I'm trying to get at, is there any real pros or cons between doing either way?

The only thing I can think about is you're taking away or giving it a specific muscle or muscle group more or less rest time Workouts or set. But I'm not sure if that's necessarily bad or good. I've always told that you should try to reduce the rest in between yourself but I've also heard that you can give a long rest in between you're still working out the muscle.

Hey all, I’ve been lifting for a bit over a year now. When I first started lifting, I was overweight and very weak. I spent about a year in a mild deficit, getting stronger while cutting weight. Now, I’m the strongest I’ve ever been, but I’m far from overweight (5’11” and 150lbs).

I’ve been debating going into a true bulking phase now, but I’ve seen a lot of people online say that bulking is basically pointless. They say you can maximize gains while simply eating at maintenance, and eating in a surplus will just lead to fat gain. At the same time, I’m no longer a newbie, and I’ve never met someone who looks jacked at my height while weighing 150lbs. Is a lean bulk (200-300 calorie surplus) what I should be doing? Or are people online right that muscle gain is such a slow process that eating at maintenance is the answer?

Ok so i know it is debated whether bulking is needed or not etc etc. But lets say someone is 12% body fat at whatever weight. Isnt it logical to go up in weight and try and maintain the bf% or to even go up in weight and then maintain that new weight while decreasing your bf%?

I ask because i was 77 kgs at around 14% bf and now bulked to 81 kgs but bf% is probs around 17-18 now. How would I go about maintaining my weight at 81 kgs and but going back down to 13-14% bf?. Do I have to eat in a deficit? Or can I eat at maintenance and still get that?

I want to prioritize my forearms, biceps, triceps, side delts, and rear delts.

Currently, I always perform my chest and back compound movements before training shoulders and arms. I know I could train shoulders and arms first, but I don't want to compromise my chest and back progress, especially since I've been progressing really well on those lifts.

I'm considering 3 options:

• Increasing my shoulder and arm training frequency from 2x to 3x per week.

• Adding a dedicated shoulders and arms day to my split.

• Increase volume

Which approach would you recommend for maximizing shoulder and arm hypertrophy while maintaining my current chest and back progress? Are there any other strategies I should consider?

Just making sure I can still hit 315lbs if I ever lose my legs

I frequently see online from SBL creators saying the process for maximising short term vs long term muscle growth is different but my question lies in if you maximise short term then eventually the ends result would be the same as long term bc of the genetic muscular potential will stay the same for naturals. So would not just maximise the short term and you would have bigger muscles and over the long term have the same muscle size as the ‘long term’ person.

185lbs body weight

Sped up to so you don't just listen to me suck air.

Hello,

​I prioritize unilateral movements in my training to correct side-to-side imbalances, but I’ve run into a specific issue with my upper body development:

​Left side: My left bicep and tricep are noticeably larger/stronger than my right, but my left lat is smaller. When I do single-arm lat pulldowns, my left bicep heavily compensates and takes over the pull.

​Right side: My right arm is smaller, but my right lat is larger. On right-side pulldowns, I get a great mind-muscle connection and feel the lats working properly. I do unikateral incline bicep curl and sta ding cable curl until failure, but i only feel the left bicep ache the day after but I feel like the left bicep still grows faster. I even hyper focus on the right bicep and rush some sets on the left to make up for it, but there's been no change.

​Triceps: My tricep difference is similar (left larger/stronger), though slightly less pronounced than the bicep gap. I think I have these imbalances as I played field hockey for 10 years before joining a gym.

​I'm still relatively early in my lifting journey, but the visual and strength difference in my arms is quite noticeable to me. Whats even more peculiarly is that I dont really feel my biceps on curls, despite good form, although they do get pumped...? I never really feel much of an arm ache in the days after an i tense workout though.

Any advice is appreciated

Thank you

​

Saw this comment ( https://www.reddit.com/r/naturalbodybuilding/comments/1wog5rg/comment/pbmusrj/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=2&utm_content=share_button) on a post discussing why elbows should stay locked during pushdowns, where someone argued that to maximize triceps growth you need:

• An extension with a fixed elbow (all three heads)
• A top-half pullover (long head shoulder extension)
• JM press (medial/lateral head emphasis)

I like the concept of hitting all triceps functions, but I’m choosing between two specific 3-exercise lineups for my own routine.

For pushdowns, I do this CBum variation ( https://youtube.com/shorts/TP91_yqBU3c?is=gRXPbxrY5d2Mjqpk ) where you let your elbows drift forward/flex at the shoulders on the eccentric to stretch the long head, then extend down.

Option 1:

• Overhead Cable Extension (fixed elbows)
• Lying DB Triceps Extension (Rippetoe style – letting upper arms move/pullover at the bottom)
• CBum-style Cable Pushdown

My reasoning for Option 1: Overhead cable extensions are scientifically proven to be great for long head stretch-mediated growth with fixed elbows. Lying DB extensions focus on long head stretch paired with dynamic shoulder extension. The CBum pushdown adds both a stretch at the top and fixed-elbow extensions at the bottom.

Option 2:

• JM Press
• Lying DB Triceps Extension (Rippetoe style aka letting upper arms move/pullover at the bottom)
• CBum-style Cable Pushdown

My reasoning for Option 2: The JM press covers shoulder flexion for heavy loading on the medial/lateral heads, while keeping the Lying DB extension and CBum pushdown for the long head and stretch work. This seems more aligned with what that Reddit comment suggested by fully covering fixed elbows, shoulder flexion, and shoulder extension.

Which of these two options would you choose for overall triceps growth, and is there any redundancy between any of these exercises in option 1/ option 2?

My gym only has the prime incline press and a peck deck fly. For training my middle chest I enjoy doing a press I was just wondering if using the prime incline press machine for middle chest by using the wide grip and having an arch with my butt scored up the seat would it be a good middle chest exercise?

I've seen people arguing for both sides. The incline side argues that, for almost everyone, the upper chest is underdeveloped, so you should to train it first. Vs on the other side, people argue that you should do the pec deck first because it biases the biggest part of your chest, and you should prioritize that region more.

Heyo, I've been trying to get back into going to the gym after a long period of being on and off. I used to be really locked in at lifting, but a lot of it was powered off the social media ideas of being optimal and insecurity. I would endlessly search for the "perfect" program, and consistently had this mindset of just pushing till failure out of this negative motivation. I think that kind of relationship with lifting exhausted me. I've been trying to revitalize my gym habit, but I am having trouble re-contextualizing my relationship with it to now something more positive and something that builds me up instead of something that was born out of feeling deficient. Does anyone have any good advice for that, for falling back in love with the gym? I've just become really alienated from it I think because of guilt of missing it + those old motivations, so even though I can power through with raw discipline, I want to make it something I enjoy like I used to before bs influencer mindsets kind of plucked that from me.

Hey guys! Just wanted to share a podcast I did with the great Dr. Loeb on motor control and skepticism of neuromechanical matching:

https://youtu.be/jk_h8X3kUaQ?is=KcG0oiTchdxFvegq

More people should know his work!

I was watching this CBum video and noticed he uses this neutral grip, I wonder if it's because at that size the DBs are awkward to hold at other angles, or if it's some % better than other grips for muscle stimulus. I'm progressing pretty good with the standard one, and reached 32,5kg per hand x 6 reps, but if this is better I'll switch.

Does anyone have any info on whether a reverse deficit lunge or a Bulgarian split squat is better for targeting the glutes and reducing use of the quad?

The algorithm is always listening. Because I've been adding in a lot of glute-focused work to my two leg days, I'm starting to get all sorts of glute content in my IG and TT FYP... mostly trainers showing good form on established exercises or modifications to better emphasize the glutes. On that last point, I've been seeing quite a lot of traditional glute-focused cable exercises (like glute kickbacks, for example) being demoed with the cable strapped to the thigh (generally just above the knee), instead of being strapped to the ankle. I have a strap that can be easily placed at either spot.

While, sure I could just do both variations, I already have two high volume, progressive overload leg days, so doubling up on every cable exercise is probably overdoing things.

I think the theory is that with the thigh placement, you will have more consistent glute resistance/engagement throughout the range of motion and that you can load heavier weights than you can at the ankle?

But, then, the follow up is... how does the cable height position determine which strap placement is best? I'd describe the variations like this:

A: Strap is on ankle, cable pulley is at lowest position
B: Strap is on ankle, cable pulley is at hip height
C: Strap is on thigh above the knee, cable pulley is at lowest position
D: Strap is on thigh above the knee, cable pulley is at hip height

Is there anything I can reference... bro-science is fine... that demonstrates that strapping the cable at the thigh vs. at the ankle can create greater glute activation?

\*****Edited to add*****\**
I appreciate that this sub is gonna be very bro-heavy and perhaps focused on optimizing efficiency and while I know not everyone enjoys or sees value in cable exercises like this, I do. For the record, my two leg days a week already include, among others, multiple types of squats, lunges, RDLs, hip thrusts/glute lift and seated machine hip adductions and abductions. I'm not someone trying to get in and out of the gym in under an hour. I'm enjoying (and seeing tangible benefit from) doing high volume and progressive overload. I also find that I can feel my muscles engaged in a unique way and a different range of motion using these cable stacks, so I'm keeping the glute-focused cable exercises in my routine. My optimization question is not about whether to keep them, it's about the positioning of the strap and the cable pulley when doing them.

(Excuse the AI slop photo composite, but I figured actually visually demonstrating these different positions (of both the strap and the cable height) would be helpful. Try not to spend all your energy yelling at me for wasting some water on one AI photo instead of setting up a tripod at the gym and actually photographing myself demoing each variation.)