I always find bench press the hardest to judge myself on what weight I can handle. Doing 152.5lbs for my work sets today, 3 sets of 8. I got through 2 so far so here's hoping I can hit all 8 reps of the third set. In the past this is usually where I get stuck, missing the full 8 by just 1 or 2 reps.

Wow, last rep was difficult but I made the whole set. Not sure if I will be able to make a 2.5 increment to the weight next time. I may try to redo 152.5 again, or just add 1.25lbs next time.

Doing heavy incline bench after regular bench each push day helped my regular bench press tremendously, idk why.

something to try, best people to talk to for increasing bench would be the plers though.

Your shoulders might have been lacking in pressing power and the incline bench helped your shoulders catch up

Do you usually fail heavy reps on the bottom or top half of the rom?

I'm a believer in incline bench but can't really tell a difference in doing decline or not. What's your opinion on decline @BigBadSaxon - ID

OHP master race

I don't do decline and haven't done it in years

Incline I do once in a blue moon

I just bench, flies, and dumbbell press

Gotcha. Thanks.

Do bench and dumbbell press more or less target the same muscles? (I do both because DB press is fun)

Bench is better for strength because you can load greater weights, dumbbell will correct any muscular imbalances which is good for injury prevention and symmetry. Barbell works your triceps more, dumbbell works your biceps more (I know it's a pressing movement but studies show high levels of bicep activation in dumbbell press).

Especially if you follow a 4-2 tempo with dumbbell it's really good for hypertrophy due to time under tension

Let me know if you need me to extrapolate that further

@BryceB-ND thanks for that feedback I'll look into that

@BigBadSaxon - ID ty goy

@here I haven't lifted since Tuesday, but all day today and some of yesterday it feels like my upper right abdomen is sticking out. I don't see any outer signs and it doesn't cause pain but it is uncomfortable. Any ideas? Seems kind of similar to this https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=7344991, though I don't remember flexing and I don't have soreness, but it does feel tired so it might be spasming a little

Any pain with coughing?

@Olivia M nope!

Any changes in diet?

Nope

Did you ingest a decent amount of sodium in the last couple days?

Also for the record I was doing Squats and Bench, not sure if that indicates anything

Definitely pushing myself hard on Bench

Might be gas. Or you may of just twisted a muscle.

If it’s not causing you pain, perhaps you’re retaining fluid for whatever reason. Try drinking some room temp lemon water for a day or so

An inguinal herniawould be painful

So luckily you aren’t in pain

Hmm thanks Olivia. We did have Indian food on Wednesday. I've had Indian food before, but it's the first time in a long while. Could that have too much sodium?

lol any take out food is bound to be loaded with sodium unfortunately

haha could be the culprit then, I will drink some lemon water. Thanks @Olivia M

Thanks @CJ-NJ/NY

No prob hope it works!

I'll write an update later!

Feel better. Please do.

Thanks again @Olivia M @CJ-NJ/NY I can pretty confidently say it was a spasming muscle now. I put some tiger balm (muscle relaxer on it) and it relaxed right away. I'd say the immediate problem is solved, I'll look up what I can do to prevent muscle strain in the future.
I wonder, do lifting belts help with this particular issue? I'm still fairly new and haven't been using one. I just ordered one since I've been meaning to get one anyway. And lifting shoes (been working in my socks)

Have never focused on PRs but hit 3x3 at 300 lbs on deadlift today and it was pretty ez. Just never attempted that much weight before. Feels good

Do you take supplements? Bcaas or anything like that? @ThisIsChris

@Olivia M nothing except whey protein powder. Do you suggest anything?

If you want to go more natural I’d say supplement you potassium via coconut water. A lot of time muscle pain is d/t electrolyte imbalance

General muscle pain I should say. Specific or targeted muscle pain is a different story

Good to know, thanks @Olivia M bananas are readily available so unless there is something specific about coconut water then I will probably start eating more bananas (for the potassium)

If you watch your macros, bananas are loaded w carbs I’m sure you know. Potassium can be so difficult to get without screwing with your macros but things like “lite salt” and cream of tarter are nice little secrets for supplementation

Hey guys I started working out last October right around when I joined IE, and I’ve been eating healthy for the most part, no fast food or soda but I don’t think I’m making the gains I could be. Should I use protein powder if any kind or just go natural? Also any diets would be helpful. ( I weigh 148 pounds and I am 5’11.)

Pic related.

Thank you very much for the pointers @Olivia M !

@The Good Goy do you track Marcos?

you don't look bad goy, but u gotta eat big if u wanna get big, nigga

Caloric surplus, plenty of protein (and carbs imo) + heavy compound lifts.

Alright thanks @Deleted User and @Olivia M I don’t know what that is?

@Deleted User BTW how much is a lot like eat till I’m full or eat past that?

https://blog.fitbit.com/counting-macros-can-help-reach-health-goals/

past that, usually

it's easier for some people

you have to track your macros if you want to be serious/very efficient about it

@The Good Goy

@The Good Goy it’s the ratio of carbs, protein, and fat that you get from your calories

Depending on your fitness goals, you can customize where you want to get the bulk of your calories from. For example if you want to bulk, you may want to consider increasing carb intake pre-workout and overall increasing the amount of healthy fats you consume.

Oh alright thanks @Olivia M#0852 and @Deleted User

@The Good Goy#1759 thanks for asking. I’ve got nearly the same build as you and started right around October as well.

I’ve been trying to eat as much protein as I can, but I was avoiding carbs somewhat, so I guess I’ll stop doing that.

I recently discovered that I might be lactose intolerant, so that has been fairly problematic.

You can certainly do paleo/keto/avoid carbs and avoid muscle but it's not recommended. Definitely not for a beginner's bulk

@ThisIsChris watch out for ventricular hernia.

apparently people at the local YMCA don't know how to put weights back

it's so annoying

there was a dude taking up a squat rack to do stretches

yea YMCA's are usually filled with knuckle heads

yeah same thing for my university gym. Even the workers do it wrong at the end of the day

Check out this bodyweight workout I came up with: 25 push ups, 10 pull ups, 10 dips, 10 chin ups, 1 min plank. Perform all those then rest 2-3 min, repeat as many times as you can.

I used to do something similar to that every night before I re joined a gym. I think it helps but I don't get gains from it like I do the heavy lifts.

I'm no expert though so maybe I just wasn't doing enough.

Yeah if you’re trying to get big heavy lifts are definitely better

100 pushups in the AM then stretches to help shoulder mobility

I'm in need of some advice on doing OHP in a basement with a low ceiling. I've been doing them kneeling, or on one knee. Anybody dealing with the same issue? What's your solution?

@Sonic Sitting at the rack

Ok thank you. I'll give that a shot. Appreciate the response!

💪🏻

Can anyone recommend a good wrist brace. I need it for support. I don't really like the big bulky old style.

What exercises do you need it for

One thing to make sure is you're not doing "gay wrist", aka letting your wrist bend backwards on exercises like bench press. You want your hands and wrists to be in line to maximize force output and reduce joint stress

Just a fun tip for everyone. Also you can say fag wrist if you're into that

The main issue I have with it are when working with dumbells, using cable machine to do arms and curling machines kills it. When using a straight bar for curling it doesn't hurt it but if I use a curl bar it kills it.

That may be rooted in a mobility issue in your forearms and wrists. I would suggest also looking into some stretches for long-term improvement. "Front Rack Mobility" would be a useful topic to research.

As I age I am getting better at stretching all the time. It is the result of an injury.

I've struggled with wrist pain off-and-on for a couple of years, curl/ez bar would always make the pain flare up. I haven't had much pain at all in the past ~6 months, after using a wrist brace for several weeks and just lifting heavy shit all the time. Think I eased the wrist strain and then gained some hand/joint strength. shrug

What kind of brace?

https://youtu.be/qKZ1Ra1Ns3s

this tbh

Anyone else bench in the squat rack when it gets heavy? I’ve been doing it when the gym isn’t crowded and it’s pretty sweet especially since no spotter

@JesseJames#9618

@peytonT absolutely at the gym I'm at it's set up that way on purpose

It was some effort but worth. I finally got to use a bench wide enough for my shoulders

@Deleted User thanks brother.

@JesseJames#9618 No problem. I sometimes wear wrist wraps (Nordic lifting brand) for weights, but I wore the Mueller Fitted Wrist Support at work for several weeks and noticed a significant difference/improvement.

Press F for my squat career fellas. Dunzo.

Joints?

Aye

@Deleted User thanks for the help bro.

@Deleted User come on bro get some osteo bi flex 💪🏼

And the squats are really starting to take a toll on my knees

Oh believe me man I understand 100% I was just kidding around.

It sucks because I really like them. Especially the warm ups. They feel really good on my hip flexors and back you know?

I like squats the most out of all the big lifts

Deadlift > bros

I agree, I'm fond of the deadlift

Y'all gotta bench, bro!

I’m not bailing on deadies or bench lads. Just squats.

Bench is my worst lift. I use my longish arms as excuse

T Rex arms checking in, bench 4x a week

I close grip 205 for sets of 4 today and Comp paused them. Even got a video

Ah very nice

Show us the vid my dude

I can post those in here?

Yes

no, sorry

u have to be taller than 5'8" to post in here

@peytonT

Says the video is too big

Idk how to compress it on my phone

Use YouTube and set vid to private

I’ll max in a few weeks so those should be short enough

Can I post the link to YouTube upload?

Yeah

https://youtu.be/cmAYwTPQC-8

Peep the rib flair and knee sleeves. Ipf approved content

Lookin good

I disavow those white gym socks

Haha thanks

What socks are you wearing

I thought close grip bench had a way closer grip and focused more on tris. But that was nice dude

thats way closer than my competition grip. I'll film my comp style triples today to highlight the difference

https://youtu.be/WmoJJmzcw3U
This is comp style but bad angle. I’m vid one of my heavy sets every session so I’ll get a better angle

Super close grip (inside shoulder width) puts more stress on wrists and shoulders. I take shoulder width and focus on “stacking” my elbows and forearms with minimal flair plus a more straight bar path

https://youtu.be/gMFLF6nD6_Q

MIRIN HARD

ITS A MIND SET

That dude is a monster

Chest Day Best Day?

someone redpill me on deadlifting. i get my fitness advice from a guy who's lifted for a long time and is exceptionally knowledgeable about fitness and health, and he doesn't do deadlifts because squats and other lifts work out all the same muscles without nearly the same risk of injury. second opinions anyone?

Deadlift.

DEAD

LIFT

@Gaius Mucius Scaevola

Squats are great, but they don't work the posterior chain nor upper back muscles like a deadlift.

Plus there are few things more primal than lifting a lot of weight. Feels good man.

What's the best guide to deadlifting without snapping my spine?

Deadlifts work grip strength. Deadlifts might "work the same muscles" but they work them in a different way. Doing only squats is not a substitute for deadlifts. Barbell rows work your biceps but just because they work the same muscles doesn't mean they're a substitute for specific bicep exercises. Adding another heavy, full body lift to your workout will only make you stronger

As for guides, I would look up anything by Boris Sheiko

With proper form and starting off light, and focusing on getting the form first, you won't hurt your back, and are just as safe as you are doing a squat

I also suggest checking out the YouTube channel untamed strength with Allen Thrall. He has a lot of good, no-bullshit advice for lifters.

@Gaius Mucius Scaevola

AlLaN tHrAlL 🤤

deadlift on arm or leg day?

Some people will it on their leg day along with squats. I like to have a separate deadlift and back accessory day

Leg dayyyy

Deadlift day lol

BENCH DAYYY

Everyday is leg day for me, at least today is low bar and cgbp

Push day, pull day and extra day to hit your weak points. For 5 day a week routine, hit push and pull twice.

Push = bench, squat, press, triceps

Pull = deadlift, row, pull-ups, biceps

I have upper body and lower body days

6 days a week

Deadlift day fo sho.

I like to hit deadlift hard on Saturday morning and then eat a big ol lunch.

This is my routine. How to modify to add deadlifts? I have dynamic warm up, then either jump rope/plyo jump circuit, then either of these depending on the day, followed by a run.
-Upper Body Day
Bench Press
Bicep Curls
Incline Press
Lat-Pull Downs
Lat Pulls
Standing Shoulder Press
-Core work
Plank
Sit ups
Side Plank
Crunches

-Lower Body Day
Squat
Leg curls (feet plantarflexed)
Leg Extensions
Calf raises (stairs; Straight Leg)
Calf Raises (stairs: Bent leg)
-Core
Leg Raises
Plank
Russian Twists
Supermans

You don’t have enough back work

Only two back and no rows
2 pressing and no flyes
Random bicep and shoulder
Mostly front delt

For lower body
Only one compound movement
3 exercise isn’t enough

You write this yourself or did you find it?

I'm not a fan of 'upper body' and 'lower body' arrangement in general

This is my lifting routine for the week

Strong Nibba

Hey guys, I've received the suggestion from lifters many times now to take a creatine supplement. I'm trying to research it and I find all sorts of positive opinions on it from fitness magazines. I trust the people who have recommended it to me but I want to make sure I have every possible theoretical side of the story. The one concrete skeptical comment I got about it was from an osteopathic doctor I visited (for an unrelated issue) who said he admittedly did not know much about it but didn't see how it would help and said I might be concern about any supplement going through the kidneys. Beyond that I haven't heard any criticism of taking creatine supplements. The article I felt was most scientific on it was this one: http://healthpsych.psy.vanderbilt.edu/Survey_of_Creatine_Literature.htm and they say that all the literature they reviewed did not really find any bad side effects to using a creatine supplement, which was very reassuring to me. But I want to know if anyone knows of ANY criticisms of creatine use, just so I can have all possible sides of this issue. Thanks for your attention.

Mfw forget headphones so i run the half mile from gym to dorm and back. Nothing like a mile run pwo before leg day

Yeah but what was your time?

not fast enough

@peytonT#2360 @Deleted User how would you guys recommend I modify it? It was given to me by a guy I know who is really knowledgeable about fitness

^tbh yeah. 7 minutes easy run. Currently hitting 405 squat dubs

Did someone mention supplements?

*Rubs GNC Merchant hands together*

@Gaius Mucius Scaevola I would do your own research, bro. Take the fitness redpill. Nearly every 'knowledgeable about fitness' guy will have different opinions

if he doesn't deadlift, he's probably a scrub tho

kek

i do my own research but there's so much information out there it's hard to sift the good from the bad

I'll get to you on Creatine later, at work there right now actually lol. But long story short, Creatine Monohydrate or HCL is good as long as you're drinking water and aren't afraid of possible "Fluffiness".

and then i'm not sure what works or what doesn't and end up not doing anything because I don't know what works best

Take creatine

It’s the most researched supp out there. Normal monohydrate is fine. You should already be drinking enough water anyway

If you aren’t at 1.5 gallons a day and you’re active you should be. 5-10g creatine won’t destroy you

drinking water is kinda mainstream so i abstain from it

What about 1.5 gallons of tea 🇬🇧

1.5 gallons of milk

As someone who is lactose intolerant that might kill me lmao

https://youtu.be/AbAzdLWTt0k

Everything about this video sucks. Sorry but it’s what I got today. Finally about to eat for the first time

You had two more reps.

Was only programmed For two reps

@peytonT thanks for your thoughts.
@Suomi Stronk I look forward to your supplement-industry-insider insights

Would it be better to just talk in voice? @ThisIsChris

OK!

@Gaius Mucius Scaevola Can I talk to you in voice about it?

@Suomi Stronk i've got a friend coming over in a bit but i can hop in for a few minutes until he gets here

Gotcha. I'm getting in now. On mobile so excuse me there.

can you hear me?

oh shit my buddy just got here @Suomi Stronk

let me know when you're free some other time to chat

A few weeks ago I mentioned in this chat that my gym owner (former champ of some sort) has as a program for absolute beginners Day 1 of week Squats and Bench 3x8 work sets, Day 2 Squats and Bench 4x6, Day 3 3x8 Deadlift and Ancillary Deadlift exercises. I mentioned that in this chat and got a lot of comments that "Sounds great sounds like the guy knows what he's doing" and in particular when contrasting with SS I heard from here and other people I've talked to that "Yeah the 3x8 is better than Rippetoe's 3x5 for a beginner, you need to build volume". At the time it sounded reasonable, and I am used to the 3x8 sets now, but another friend who follows SS to the letter asked me why 3x8 would be better than 3x5 for a beginner. I could say "You need to build volume" but I realized I don't actually know what I would mean by that. Can anyone please explain?

I don't get why you would need to build volume for the sake of volume

when I ran SS I was able to progress so fast, and likely faster than I would have with 3x7

Adding more reps or sets is adding volume. Volume being the total amount of lifts. I assume he is suggesting that higher volume is better, and as a beginner you benefit more with extra volume. For example, in a lot of Sheiko routines, the volume is added by the amount of sets instead of reps. You'll end up doing 7-8 sets, but for lower rep counts. As you get further into strength programming and start to use things like Sheiko, Smolov, or Westside, having that "built volume" will help prepare you more than a 3x5 I think. 3x5 is barely anything. 15 reps? 3x8 adds almost 10 reps to your count

3x8 too

My bench progressed faster with volume, whereas my squat progressed much faster with 3x5*

Russian coaches say that you should train smaller muscle groups with more volume and larger muscle groups with less volume

So that makes sense! How interesting

I think that the idea of volume for beginners is that you are still getting use to the movement, and if you are adding weight in proper intervals, then for a while you will be lifting less weight that your body really needs to stimulate growth. This is due to the fact that your muscles are just getting use to moving this was and not necessarily that they can't lift more weight.

By adding volume you are exhausting the larger muscles due to work load without needing much weight and also hitting smaller muscles groups that will be called upon once the larger groups get tired.

But I don't have any science at my finger tips to back that up. @ThisIsChris

^^

I disagree on the volume aspect for a complete beginner. Because the novice has not adapted to the movements he will experience debilitating soreness from high volume work and not be able to make progression early.

And now we have reached the classic impass of all discussions regarding specific preferences in fitness and training: "Try out both programs and see what works for you." I would suggest starting with fewer sets and if you are seeing measurable progress, then just stay with that as long as it works. If you start to stall on adding weight to the bar, then check first your nutrition and sleep patterns before considering changing to another program.

@BryceB-ND @BigBadSaxon - ID @Fox @peytonT @Zyklonius B Gassem-LA thanks a lot guys, I didn't realize how much there was to think about! Looks like there are several aspects to consider, including absolute beginner's building up muscle and the differences between smaller muscle groups and larger muscle groups. Funny enough I remember Mark Rippetoe's rationale for his 3x5 is (paraphrasing) "there are lots of aspects that can be debated, but the most important thing might be to pick something and just go" and he thought 3x5 was a good enough program that was simple. He seems to be reflecting the same point that Fox is on how many aspects could be considered. And as Bryce mentioned he found tweaking the 3x8/3x5 for different exercises, I think I'm at a point where I will probably adjust some of the reps. Not sure why but from some exercises I feel like I get more out of it if I do higher volume, and some exercises I want to focus on the reps more, in particular I've had more trouble with my 7th and 8th reps when doing bench press, which makes me wonder if it makes me think to focus on 3x5 on bench press, though that might be more of a retreat than a good idea. That's just an example. For some other excercises I feel like I would be cheating if I didn't do at least 8 reps, but I wonder if that means instead I should be adding more weight to feel more stress.

I should add the caveat that my preference for lower volume applies strictly to the heavy compound movements i.e. squat, deadlift,press etc

Any set over 6 I lose count lol. I have to start counting like “1, and , 2, and” would be four reps

@peytonT haha there's a few sets I intended to 8 but I go to the video and see I only did 7. I know where I mess up counting, I'll be like "alright I'm about to do rep number 5, ok here we go, wait is this rep 5 or did I already complete rep 5" so now a lot of the times I throw in one extra rep if I feel unsure.

Yeah sets of 8 at 70% on deadlift leave me mentally disabled for a few moments

I second @Zyklonius B Gassem-LA feeling about low sets on heavy lifts. Intensity is more important than volume in that regard (imo).

I feel the same way about bench

Anyone else get DOMS exclusively in their left knee

no

doms, in the knee

erm

like a muscle around the knee?

delayed onset muscle soreness kinda necessitates a muscle, not a joint haha

you probly have some hipshift or something using your stronger leg

mess around with unilaterals

wait, this is from squatting right?

There’s an awful Skyrim joke to be made here but I’ll refrain

It was a joke lol

Knee injuries being ignored under a factual misunderstanding

A few weeks ago I wrote about a bench press set that strained an upper an muscle. I fixed it with muscle relaxer balm and resting a few days. The next workout I dropped down 5 pounds and have slowly slowly been creeping up to that weight again that strained me last time. Tonight I do it. One more set to go.

Just resting before it. One note though is the problem wasn't that I didn't complete the work out that time, it was just the next few days I felt like I had a very tense right upper an muscle. Hope I've done enough training, rest, warm up to mitigate that this time.

Follow-up, last set went really well, better than first two, which indicates to me I should warm up more before the work sets. Also I made an extra effort to prop up on my back heels.

My workout today. RIP my back right now.