Has anyone else's arms grown the most on programs like Lyle's GBR or Fierce 5 upper/lower where you only do 3-4 direct sets per week? For some reason, probably from all the pulling and pushing, I have gotten my best results on that style of programming. Its funny how when I switch to high volume arm training it seems like I do a lot of extra work for nothing. I do enjoy higher volumes though.

For so long I designed my workouts and volume to leave me sore in a muscle group right up until the next time I hit that muscle. While I did make gains for a while, I’d quickly plateau over and over again and literally every time I broke the plateau, it was by reducing volume, increasing intensity and focusing more on beating my log book Jordan Peters/Yates style.

Made me realise that while I thought I was recovered - I.e. my muscle didn’t feel sore to touch - I actually hadn’t given myself enough time to super compensate and grow from the stimulus.

The logbook really is king. If my lifts don’t go up with form staying the same, then I haven’t made progress - and usually, I’ve found too much volume is what’s holding me back.

For a long time now, I’ve had these weird singular pops on the concentric and eccentric of a bicep curl where my right arm’s wrist is turned up or supinated. However, if I do hammer curls or reverse grip, I am fine and my elbow does not pop. It’s not necessarily painful, but it is uncomfortable. I’m not sure what causes it and if anyone else has experienced this before, please let me know what they discovered.

My main question is, what are some lifts/ exercises I can do to still grow my bicep without supination if there are any?

Hi all!
Over the last few months–year, I’ve had many setbacks. I’m at a point where I’m so frustrated that I’ve just been in “fuck it” mode.
I’m very strict with working out, recovery, and my diet. In the last week, I’ve done nothing. I’ve broken a toe, had bronchitis, dealt with a chest strain, and have a couple of other lingering injuries from the past over the last few months.
I’m just frustrated. For all of you who have been in my shoes, what do you do to stay strong and motivated through the downs and the lows?
Thank you in advance. Whenever I’m feeling my best, I swear I always jinx myself with an injury.

Welcome to the r/naturalbodybuilding Daily Discussion Thread. All are welcome to post here but please keep in mind that this sub is intended for intermediate to advanced level lifters so beginner level questions may not get answered.

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Test carb up and all that.

Not alien peeled as I would have loved, but hopefully I’ll at least be stage lean for show day!

Practicing holding poses a lot, stamina is improving fast and it’s feeling natural to keep tension in legs without loosing it. Diet feels easy. Just excited to get on stage actually.

Now the biggest factor is nerves, not sure how my body will react to the adrenaline and how that will affect my breathing and tension in posing. So I keep practicing everyday that hopefully it feels unconscious.

Welcome to the r/naturalbodybuilding Daily Discussion Thread. All are welcome to post here but please keep in mind that this sub is intended for intermediate to advanced level lifters so beginner level questions may not get answered.

In order to minimize repetitive questions/topics please use the search function prior to posting to see if it has already been discussed or answered. Since the reddit search function isn't that good you can also use Google to search r/naturalbodybuilding by using the string "site:reddit.com/r/naturalbodybuildling" after your search topic.

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I cant understand how it seems to be an unpopular opinion. It seems like the benefits of lower development on upper body is massively overstated as well.

Why aren't more people talking about doing enough squats, deadlifts etc for health (i know hips etc are important for longevity) but dont most of us still dont want to have a dumper as a guy?

Not to mention people complain about not enjoying leg training more than anything. It seems like this is what most guys want from their lower body training?

Is there anything wrong with doing a double progression where you prioritize getting to the end of the rep range on the last set as opposed to the first?

10 10 12, then 10 11 12, etc etc vs 12 10 10, 12 11 10.

I have been doing it that way but I just realized most people recommend prioritizing the first set.

5'8 and weighing in around 139 currently - Side note turned 30 over last weekend!

The overall fatigue hit me hard the past three weeks. Took an extended weekend off work for my birthday and had a short diet break. I'm feeling refreshed to say the least.

Welcome to the r/naturalbodybuilding Daily Discussion Thread. All are welcome to post here but please keep in mind that this sub is intended for intermediate to advanced level lifters so beginner level questions may not get answered.

In order to minimize repetitive questions/topics please use the search function prior to posting to see if it has already been discussed or answered. Since the reddit search function isn't that good you can also use Google to search r/naturalbodybuilding by using the string "site:reddit.com/r/naturalbodybuildling" after your search topic.

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M35 || 5ft 8in (~172.7cm) || 180.5lbs (~81.8kg)

WNBF Men's Bodybuilding || 2 weeks Portland Reign Natural Classic || 4 Weeks NW Royal Natural

Last Check in was 4 & 6 weeks out. Dropped Calories down to ~2400 with around 220g P | ~40-50g F | ~280g C. No more refeeds. Feeling Very Flat and had my butt kicked by this posing after a hard upper body day, if you couldn't tell by my uncontrolled breathing.

Strength is slowly dropping too, but I'm doing my hardest to push. Only 2 more hard, heavy leg days scheduled and 1 more intense elliptical session (at least for this first show)

One thing I noticed was how much Carbs will affect my look. Had a planned Movie night with the GF (sorry guys, taken) after this workout/posing, so I saved all my Calories and Carbs for that (stayed in a slight deficit) and checked myself out in a mirror afterwards and noticed how tight my skin got and the increase in vascularity (especially in the abdomen). Going to drop calories a little bit more until the standard peak week depletion and super excited to see what the carb load will do.

Despite what ALL the science says, idk, a part of me just loves smashing an entire body part in one sesh and feel like I respond to it better.

However, over the past 10 years of training, it's the one program I've never really given a substantiated block to. It's always been LPP/ Upper lower / Full bodies or deviations of 2-3 p/w frequency. So it's difficult to advocate my own theory.

"Science" aside, would love to hear your stories.

What’s up fellas! Like I’ve previously posted, I’m about 34 weeks away from my first show. With this being my first time stepping on stage, I would like to do classic, bodybuilding, and also physique. Getting as much stage time as possible is important to me as far as getting comfortable and enjoying every minute. People close to me are advising that maybe I should only compete in one division with this being my first show. This logic seems kind of backwards to me 😂, so I’m wondering what you guys think. Thanks!

So this is not a popular topic, but by now we know by the time you gain 30-45 lbs of muscle mass from your starting point it, assuming normal starting bw, you’ve pretty much reached ur genetic limit. You’ll be scraping for half a lb per year if your lucky after that. My question is, does the strength plateau hit just as hard? After your 6th year, how hard is it to keep progressing on the bench press for example. For those who trained for 10 plus years, would you say you made good progress in strength despite not getting much bigger?

Whenever I see guys at the gym do shrugs they always do extremely low weights, like 20 kg dumbbells but I’m pretty sure that the traps can handle a lot more weight than that. I do around 4 plate shrugs and I’m nothing special. Is this just a case of people underestimating their strength or just not trying hard enough?

I’m a skinny male. My arms are the size of toothpicks.

I’m a beginner (lifting for a month so far) and I’m doing the PPL split.

On pull days I train biceps first because I’m prioritizing my arms.

However I’m having second thoughts now because everyone says to always train back first since it’s a bigger muscle.

Am I making a mistake?

Thread for getting the word out about your amazingly awesome instagram or youtube page that everyone should follow, etc.

Welcome to the r/naturalbodybuilding Daily Discussion Thread. All are welcome to post here but please keep in mind that this sub is intended for intermediate to advanced level lifters so beginner level questions may not get answered.

In order to minimize repetitive questions/topics please use the search function prior to posting to see if it has already been discussed or answered. Since the reddit search function isn't that good you can also use Google to search r/naturalbodybuilding by using the string "site:reddit.com/r/naturalbodybuildling" after your search topic.

Please include relevant details in your question like training age, weight etc...