Arkk's Weight Lifting / Fitness Thread
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Itlan
Blackwing Lair Raider
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I ran 5/3/1 BBB for... actually, probably about six months before jumping on Kizen. What I can tell you is that the strength gains I'm seeing NOW are probably BECAUSE of 5/3/1. My max in April of last year was 385, I pulled 455 fairly easily in January, and am projected over 500 currently (although the biggest issue is and always will be floor speed in a sumo deadlift). That would be more than a hundred pounds in a year, and a big part of that was probably 5/3/1 although I absolutely ran myself into the ground which is why I switched to Kizen, to build work capacity and get in more reps over intensity.
Basically, do it. It's a proven program. Do exactly as prescribed, the only volume I would add would be small muscle groups - bis, tris, rear & lateral delts - if you feel you're neglecting those areas.
DO THE SECONDARY WORK. It's a bitch, it hurts, just do it. Finish it. Keep it light.
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How are you handling progression / deload (7th week protocol, other?) and how do you feel about it? I am also doing a 5/3/1 Full Body template. I started with the '5 up 3 back' plan for progression. I am almost at my first '3 back'. It feels about right to me so far, but I won't know until I have run through a couple of times.
Khane
Got something right about marriage
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I'm doing 3 week cycles and doing a full off week after every 4th cycle. So 12 weeks on one week off. That's the plan for now at least. This week is actually my first off week and it is absolutely needed.
The only thing I'm doing on off weeks is rolling and stretching. I'm not even doing assistance work.
The only thing I'm doing on off weeks is rolling and stretching. I'm not even doing assistance work.
ZyyzYzzy
RIP USA
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Good to hear. Excited to change it up and not squat 3x a week too.
Wilk be about a month before I switch. Fanily vacation this weekend/next week so going to see where my 1RMs are 2 weeks after I get back
Ossoi
Tranny Chaser
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22 weeks into 24 of my bulk and I think I'm ready to do an intense mini cut for 10-14 days.
Appetite is down and it's been harder to finish my meals, partly due to tedium over eating same foods
Increased calories recently but weight gain noticeably slower than earlier, avg weight per week up by 200g / 0.5lb or less, maybe because of reduced appetite or maybe because earlier I had a lot of potential muscle growth to tap into
Have a dexa scan booked on 11 April, ideally would have continued bulking until then but nothing's set in stone yet
I'll get round to doing a front comparison and you can predict how much fat/muscle I've gained and compare vs the dexa.
The biggest takeaway from the six months is embracing sugar. There's no way to consistently get 400-500g of carbs a day without lots of fruit, dried fruits like raisins, fruit juice, carb powders, skittles etc
Seems like low calorie ice creams have exploded, the Ben and Jerry one has 20g fat and 100g carbs which was perfect for macro capping.
Appetite is down and it's been harder to finish my meals, partly due to tedium over eating same foods
Increased calories recently but weight gain noticeably slower than earlier, avg weight per week up by 200g / 0.5lb or less, maybe because of reduced appetite or maybe because earlier I had a lot of potential muscle growth to tap into
Have a dexa scan booked on 11 April, ideally would have continued bulking until then but nothing's set in stone yet
I'll get round to doing a front comparison and you can predict how much fat/muscle I've gained and compare vs the dexa.
The biggest takeaway from the six months is embracing sugar. There's no way to consistently get 400-500g of carbs a day without lots of fruit, dried fruits like raisins, fruit juice, carb powders, skittles etc
Seems like low calorie ice creams have exploded, the Ben and Jerry one has 20g fat and 100g carbs which was perfect for macro capping.
Khane
Got something right about marriage
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This doesn't seem right. I've never actually looked into it but why would this be? You are engaging a lot of the same muscles and strengthening your back should strengthen your squat because the back is also engaged in a squat. A stronger DL should also increase stability for higher weight squats, no? Also, if DL wouldn't help with squats why do people hack squat? It's very similar to a deadlift but with more emphasis on the quads.
This sounds almost like saying doing dips will increase bench but close grip bench won't increase tricep strength.
Gravel
Mr. Poopybutthole
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I'd say it's mostly because deadlift for legs is heavily focused on hamstrings. And I've noticed, at least personally, that hamstrings don't really play much of a role in my squats. Squats are by far more reliant on your quads and even glutes.
Thinking about the movements, I'd guess hamstrings are mostly involved in the eccentric portion of the squat; when you're going down.
I could be talking completely out of my ass, but that's been my experience. I don't know that I've ever had sore hamstrings from squatting, but I definitely have from deadlifts.
Thinking about the movements, I'd guess hamstrings are mostly involved in the eccentric portion of the squat; when you're going down.
I could be talking completely out of my ass, but that's been my experience. I don't know that I've ever had sore hamstrings from squatting, but I definitely have from deadlifts.
Khane
Got something right about marriage
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Well I agree with all that but you're still using some quads and your back with DL. Speaking of that my DL form is such shit. I can barely get into a good position because my hips are so inflexible. Left hip specifically. Been working on it but it fucking sucks.
Every sport I've ever played used my left leg either as a landing leg (pitching in baseball) or a pivot leg (hockey, golf) and I just neglected hip mobility and stretching forever. I've been doing the Agile 8 and it's helping a bit but even after 2 months of it I still can't actually do things like those frog jumps "correctly". I can't bring my legs anywhere near my hands. Not even fucking close. Left hip is hilariously immobile. I can't even cross my left leg over my right when sitting without pulling it up and over with my arms.
You bros got any other good hip mobility/stretching exercises?
Every sport I've ever played used my left leg either as a landing leg (pitching in baseball) or a pivot leg (hockey, golf) and I just neglected hip mobility and stretching forever. I've been doing the Agile 8 and it's helping a bit but even after 2 months of it I still can't actually do things like those frog jumps "correctly". I can't bring my legs anywhere near my hands. Not even fucking close. Left hip is hilariously immobile. I can't even cross my left leg over my right when sitting without pulling it up and over with my arms.
You bros got any other good hip mobility/stretching exercises?
ZyyzYzzy
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Itlan
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He's probably the most knowledgeable person when it comes to mobility.
And the reason why squats build deadlifts better than deadlifts build squats is two simple ideas: deadlift taxes the body a lot more than squatting, meaning you can go at a higher frequency and higher intensity on squats until you begin to see diminishing returns, and the fact that most people are weak off the floor when deadlifting, meaning your quads and glutes are your problem areas -- not your hamstrings. What builds quads and glutes? Squats.
Mileage will vary obviously depending on where you're dominant of course, but there's a reason plenty of powerlifters don't train deadlifts in the offseason.
Tuco
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What is the benefit of trying to increase your calories via carbs instead of fat? I'm just assuming here that you purposefully have a diet that is so high in carbs and relatively low in fat.
Ossoi
Tranny Chaser
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Setting Up a Diet for Muscle Growth | RNT Fitness is the mechanics behind it
But the biggest reason is that when you're trying to get sufficient calories to gain weight and trying to consistently eat at a surplus then the availability/variety of carb dense foods is a lot greater than fat based foods.
Tuco
I got Tuco'd!
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Thanks. What you said about getting tired of all the eating kind of resonating with me. You were/are doing "190g protein, 90g fat and 380g carbs on rest days, 190g, 90g and 450g carbs on training days", before I quit I was doing 200g protein, 90g fat, 300g carbs, so fairly similar with a bit less carbs.
After I stopped lifting I did whatever and didn't like how I felt so just went back on a keto diet and it was easy and I felt much better. I'd rather just eat a bunch of meat and cheese tbh. And I like ribeye steak, ribs, sausage, chicken thighs/wings/legs etc etc.
Anyway, I'm lifting again and I've ditched my keto diet for all the reasons stated in that article, but I'm not sure I want to sign up to the same macro split long term. For simplicity if I say my previous caloric ratio was 33% protein, 33% fat and 34% carbs, I wonder how much it'd impact my lifting if I went with 33% protein, 50% fat and 17% carbs?