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Let's look back at some memorable moments and interesting insights from last year.

Your top 1 posts:

• "Happy Cakeday, r/ChannitFitness! Today you're 3" by u/AutoModerator

Let's look back at some memorable moments and interesting insights from last year.

Your top 1 posts:

• "Happy Cakeday, r/ChannitFitness! Today you're 2" by u/AutoModerator

Let's look back at some memorable moments and interesting insights from last year.

Your top 10 posts:

• "24 Hour Fitness permanently shuts nearly a quarter of its gyms" by u/CommercialThing5
• "READ THE STICKY" by u/c0d3s1ing3r
• "Covid-19 cost me my body: Before and after photos shows how D.C. athlete, 40, lost 60lbs off his 215lb muscular frame after having to be placed in a coma for 25 DAYS" by u/CommercialThing5
• "Good excercises for abs"
• "What exactly is water weight?" by u/Tew_Wet
• "'How one hour of slow breathing changed life'..." by u/CommercialThing5
• "Quarter of gym-goers don’t expect they’ll ever return to fitness clubs thanks to coronavirus" by u/CommercialThing5
• "Good fitness equipment for home." by u/SteveSnitzelson
• "ESPN - Bodies We Want 2015 Issue" by u/ChannitChiefOfStaff
• "Review of Recent Fitness Studies IV: Caffeine Tolerance? Is Too Much Sleep Harmful? How Much Protein Per Meal?" by u/ChannitChiefOfStaff

This decision assumes you have a gym membership.

What are some good fitness related things to have at home.

I was considering getting a heavy bag,rowing machine or pullup bar.

Alright so this sub is pretty dead so I thought I'd add some life into it by spamming with posts. What are some good exercises that you guys have found to develop bigger ab muscles? Aside from the usual crunches and compound exercises like squats

##Link to Article
Link to "Behind the Scenes" Article

##Link to Imgur Album

Every year ESPN puts out the Body Issue, and this year is no different.

The lineup this year is as follows;

• Odell Beckham Jr. - 5'11" 198lbs Wide Receiver for NY Giants (NFL)
• Bryce Harper - 6'2" 208lbs Outfielder for Washington Nationals (MLB)
• Sadena Parks - 5'3" 123lbs Golfer (LPGA)
• Todd Herremens (Left) - 6'6" 321lbs Offensive Linemen for Indianapolis Colts (NFL)
• Jack Mewhort (Left) - 6'6" 308lbs
• Anthony Castonzo - 6'7" 311lbs
• Paige Selenski - 5'7" 133lbs Striker/Forward for US National Team (Hockey)
• Aly Raisman - 5'2" 115lbs Gymnast (3x Olympic Medallist)
• DeAndre Jordan - 6'11" 265lbs Center for the LA Clippers (NBA)
• Stan Wawrinka - 6'0" 179lbs Tenniser (2015 French Open Winner)
• Khatuna Lorig - 5'7" 140lbs Archer (Olympic Bronze)
• Todd Clever - 6'4" 228lbs Flanker & Captain of US National Team (RWC)
• Leticia Bufoni - 5'3" 97lbs Skateboarder (3x X-Games Gold)
• Amanda Bingson - 5'6" 210lbs Hammer Thrower (USATF, USA Record holder)
• Natalie Coughlin - 5'8" 141lbs Swimmer (12x Olympic Medallist)
• Chantae McMillan - 5'8" 153lbs Heptathlete (US Track & Field)
• Kevin Love - 6'10" 238lbs Power Forward for Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)
• Jermaine Jones - 6'0" 179lbs Midfielder for US National Team (Soccer/Football)
• Gabrielle Reece (Left) - 6'3" 170lbs Volleyballer (Retired)
• Laird Hamilton (Left) - 6'3" 220lbs Surfer (Big Wave)
• Ali Krieger - 5'6" 138lbs Defender for US National Team (Football/Soccer)
• Tyler Seguin - 6'1" 200lbs Center for Dallas Stars (NHL)
• Dallas Friday - 5'2" 108lbs Wakeboarder (4x X-Games Gold)
• Brittney Griner - 6'8" 205lbs Center for Phoenix Mercury (WNBA)

Previous Posts/Years

Hey guys, it's been awhile! Hope you are all having a wonderful Chinese new year for those who celebrate. As usual, I've collected a few interesting studies and wrote short summaries of them for all of you to read. All for educational purposes and to spark some discussion. The paper on sleep is not entirely related to fitness but it is health-related and I thought it would be interesting nonetheless.

The first study we will look at is a review written by Schoenfeld & Aragon (2018) and it asks the question: how much protein can muscles use for growth in one meal? This is actually a common question thrown around in the fitness world as a lot of people want to be as efficient as possible and want to maximize protein’s effects on muscle growth in each meal. However, as odd as it sounds, sometimes the question is asked incorrectly. For the question above, some people will ask how much protein can be absorbed in one meal as opposed to how much can be used for muscle growth maximally. All protein will be absorbed but the real question is what happens to all of it afterwards.

The review highlights the study conducted by Areta et al. (2013) which is commonly cited to say that 20–25 grams of protein is the maximum number that muscles can use for hypertrophy (muscular growth). In this study, trained individuals were given different amounts of protein in a 12 hour period post-workout. Some were supplemented with 10 grams every 1.5 hours, some 20 grams every 3 hours and some 40 grams every 6 hours. In this experiment, the group that consumed 20 grams had the greatest rates of muscle protein synthesis (a fancy term to describe the building of muscles with protein). This would suggest that eating around 20 grams of protein at a time would be the best for building muscle. The biggest limitation that this review noted in the aforementioned study was that the total protein amounts used over the 12 hour period were quite low practically. Individuals training for hypertrophy would be consuming much greater amounts of protein overall.

To challenge the previous study, the review presents a paper done by Macnaughton et al. (2016) in which 40 grams of protein elicited greater muscle protein synthesis than 20 grams in the context of full body training. Another experiment carried out by Kim et al. (2016) found that 70g of beef protein showed a more significant anabolic response than 40g of beef protein. However, it should be noted that this response was measured as a whole body response and not just for muscle protein synthesis. Therefore, it is impossible to say which amount is better for muscle protein synthesis in the context of this study.

For women, Arnal et al. (1999, 2000) found that one meal with a large amount of protein was better than the same amount spread across several meals in regards to muscle retention. These results are interesting but a limitation to extrapolation is that no resistance training was taking place amongst the subjects.

Muscle retention is also similar between those who follow intermittent fasting and those who diet continuously (Seimon et al., 2015). This would suggest that daily protein taken all at once would have the same effects on muscle as spreading out your protein intake across the day.

In the end, the authors of this review recommend 0.4–0.55 g/kg/meal which follows daily recommended intakes stated in a meta-analysis produced by Morton et al. (2017).

TL;DR: It still is not clear what the optimum number of grams of protein per meal for maximizing muscular growth is but 0.4–0.55 g/kg/meal appears to be a safe recommendation based on the current literature.

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We will now eat into a study done by Lee et al. (2018) in which differences between the conventional deadlift and the Romanian deadlift were investigated. For those who do not know what a Romanian deadlift is, it is essentially a normal deadlift starting from the top (barbell at waist) and then descending the barbell down until the hamstrings cannot stretch any further while not flexing at the lumbar spine. The knees cannot bend further than roughly 15 degrees. It may sound like a stiff-legged deadlift, however, in a stiff legged deadlift, you generally start from the bottom and your knees are allowed to bend more allowing you to bring the barbell to the floor. If you are referring to the straight-legged deadlift, the knees would not flex at all and the barbell would not drag along the legs in the descent.

The study recruited 21 males with at least 3 years of both conventional and Romanian deadlift experience with their training occurring at least twice a week. The first day involved 1 repetition maximum testing as this would facilitate selecting the appropriate load for the participants during the trial (subjects would be doing 5 reps of each lift at 70% of their 1 repetition maximum). To examine muscle activation, the scientists used electromyography. To put it simply, this is where electrodes are pasted over certain muscles to measure the electrical activity from the muscles.

The conventional deadlift showed more activation in the rectus femoris (a quadricep muscle, one that helps extend your knee and flex your hip) and slightly more activation in the gluteus maximus (your butt). Activation of the biceps femoris (a hamstring muscle) was similar between the two lifts which is interesting considering that many believe that the Romanian deadlift helps target the hamstrings better compared to the conventional deadlift.

Torque (force produced about a joint) was much higher in the knee for the conventional deadlift which was probably expected considering the knee goes through a much larger range of motion. Similarly, the torque measured at the ankles were also higher in the conventional deadlifts which may suggest higher calf muscle activity though this was not measured in the study.

Some important design aspects to note that affect generalizability is that we may see different results with different loads/intensities. Another issue regarding intensity is that the loads were selected according to the 1 repetition maximum of the subject’s Romanian deadlift. Therefore, the conventional deadlift loads may not truly be 70% of their conventional deadlift 1 repetition maximum. It is safe to say that the intensities in this study were likely not matched. Finally, the hamstrings consist of several muscles but only one hamstring muscle was observed during the experiment.

TL;DR: The conventional deadlift may be better at targetting the quadriceps and the gluteal muscles. Against what is commonly thought, the Romanian deadlift may not be better than the conventional deadlift at hitting the hamstrings, however, more comprehensive electromyography analysis should be done before making a solid statement.

EDIT: As pointed out by u/bleearch, the Romanian deadlift may be beneficial for those who have knee problems as you get to enjoy the same hamstring activation while going through less knee torque.

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A large study conducted by Wild et al. (2018) explored the effects of duration of sleep on cognition. The team created a questionnaire which tested various human cognitive aspects like short-term memory, reasoning, spatial working and planning. However, the main areas that were being observed were short term memory, reasoning and verbal ability. At the same time, questions about sleep were asked to see the relationship between the person’s sleep and their cognitive ability. The questionnaire was set up as an online survey in which they were able to gather 10,886 subjects.

Firstly, it appears that as a person ages, their sleep duration decreases.

All areas of cognition were affected by sleep duration except for short term memory. This is likely because short term memory is a low-order cognitive process, it is not as complex as something like problem solving. Looking at the graphs below, we can clearly see an inverted-U for almost all cognitive areas which tells us that both too little and too much sleep has negative effects on cognition. Even when the authors thinned the analyzed subjects by removing extremes from both ends of the results, they still saw the inverted-U.

https://imgur.com/NFHXzuV

The most optimal sleep duration for overall cognitive ability according to these results is 7.38 hours. Any duration over 8 hours likely has a negative effect on cognition and the authors were able to reliably find negative effects below 6.26 hours of sleep. It was also highlighted that even a single night of sleep had effects on cognition the next day. People who are chronically poor sleepers can benefit from just a single night of good quality sleep and the same vice-versa (good sleepers are affected by one bad night). Sleeping less than usual or sleeping 2.76 hours more than usual on one night showed negative effects for cognition on average.

Despite sleep duration decreasing with age, the results showed that age has no effect on the relationship between sleep duration and cognitive ability. An interesting fact illustrated by this study is that if one were to sleep less than four hours in a night, you would experience a cognitive impairment that is the same as adding 8 years to your age (cognitive ability worsens with age).

Clear limitations of this study include the cross-sectional nature of the study (we are only looking at a snapshot of these people’s lives, long term effects of sleep duration are not seen), the lack of people over 70 years old as well as children / adolescents and the fact that all these results were self-reported. Regarding the last point, the authors explain that the self-reporting still has moderate correlation with objective data.

TL;DR: Getting 7 hours of sleep appears to be optimal for cognition. Sleeping any less or more shows some cognitive deficit. Even a one night’s sleep can show acute effects on cognition.

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The next study is a new meta-analysis done by Grgic et al. (2019) seeing whether or not the time of the day you do your training has an effect on muscle growth or strength. A meta analysis is where you pool the results of several studies together and is generally seen as the greatest form of scientific evidence. Previous research appears to be equivocal in regards to the effects of training time and muscle strength/growth with some studies showing a more positive effect in evening training and some presenting no difference at all between times.

In total, the authors collected 11 studies for analysis. At baseline, people were stronger in the evening which suggests that people are naturally stronger in the evening. The authors postulate that this could be due to increased body temperatures in the evening or perhaps some hormonal reason. People who trained in the morning had no difference between strength tests in the morning or evening. However, those who trained the evening were stronger than they were in the morning. This introduces a benefit to morning training as it will make you stronger throughout the entire day in contrast to evening training which would only make you stronger in the evening. In terms of muscle hypertrophy, no differences were found at all.

Unfortunately, all of these studies used maximal voluntary contractions to measure strength instead of 1 repetition maximum tests. 1 repetition maximum tests are more practical because they test the strength of movements that you actually train in the gym. There are also not many studies looking at time of training and muscle hypertrophy thus presenting a gap in the literature. Finally, the studies were quite heterogeneous in terms of participants’ ages.

TL;DR: People seem to be stronger in the evening at baseline, however, unlike evening training, morning training will make you stronger throughout the entire day. Any conclusions regarding muscle growth is difficult to make due to the paucity of research on the subject though for now there appears to be no relationship.

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The last paper we will look at was written by Gonçalves et al. (2017). Caffeine is a stimulant that is often consumed prior to training to boost muscular strength and endurance. Its effects are well documented and the research strongly supports caffeine as a valuable ergogenic aid (Grgic et al., 2018). The paper at hand investigated the effects of habitual caffeine intake on its efficacy during training. In other words, they ask if one were to consume caffeine regularly, would they build a tolerance to it and experience less of its benefits in training?

The most likely theory for the way caffeine works is that it binds to adenosine receptors in the body. Amongst many functions, adenosine can make one feel sleepy and even bring down the heart rate of the body. Now, the worries that caffeine may have a reduced effect with habitual intake stem from the process where caffeine use will cause the body to create more adenosine receptors which allows more adenosine to bind to its receptors.

The scientists recruited 40 male, trained cyclists to take part in the experiment. The study was designed in a crossover manner and in a double-blinded fashion. A crossover study means that all the participants got to try all treatments. In this case, every subject was supplemented with 6 mg/kg of caffeine for a week, was given a placebo for another week and was given nothing for another week. A double blind simply means that neither the scientists nor the subjects knew which treatment was being administered which helps reduce bias.

The cyclists were grouped according to their caffeine intake prior to being recruited into the study. The low intake group consumed 58 mg/day on average, the moderate intake group at 143 mg/day and the high intake group at 351 mg/day. To put these numbers into perspective, the high intake group is worth about 4.5 250ml cans of Red Bull in terms of caffeine.

The first day involved some simple body measurements as well as some testing to determine how much the cyclists needed to perform during real testing later on. The next couple of days consisted of familiarization with the time trial tests that the cyclists would have to do. The time trial basically required each cyclist to cycle a certain amount and then the time to completion would be measured. Caffeine 24 hours before the time trial was restricted and a 24 hour dietary recall before each test was also implemented to control caffeine intake. Subjects fasted 6 hours before each time trial and if they were being supplemented with 6 mg/kg of caffeine, it was done 1 hour before the time trial. Rate of perceived exertion was also measured throughout the trial.

Cyclists performed 2–3% better when on caffeine compared to placebo/control. There was no difference between placebo and control. Rate of perceived exertion was similar between all treatments.

The same trends were seen regardless of caffeine intake habits. That is to say, even they were in the high habitual intake group, the benefits from caffeine were the same.

It would appear that regardless of whether or not you consume a lot of caffeine, you can still reap all the ergogenic benefits of the stimulant. However, I am curious to see if we would see the same results in a strength training context. Also, it is worth noting that these results can only be generalized to males.

TL;DR: Whether you use a lot of caffeine or not, you will not build a tolerance and not experience less benefits during training.

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Areta, J. L., Burke, L. M., Ross, M. L., Camera, D. M., West, D. W. D, Broad, E. M., … Coffey, V. G. (2013). Timing and distribution of protein ingestion during prolonged recovery from resistance exercise alters myofibrillar protein synthesis. The Journal of Physiology, 591(9), 2319–2331.

Arnal, M. A., Mosoni, L., Boirie, Y., Houlier, M. L., Morin, L., Verdier, E., … Mirand, P. P. (1999). Protein pulse feeding improves protein retention in elderly women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 69(6), 1202–1208.

Arnal, M. A., Mosoni, L., Boirie, Y., Houlier, M. L., Morin, L., Verdier, E., … Mirand, P. P. (2000). Protein feeding pattern does not affect protein retention in young women. The Journal of Nutrition, 130(7), 1700–1704.

Gonçalves, L. S., Painelli, V. S., Yamaguchi, G., Oliveria, L. F., Saunders, B., Silva, R. P., … Gualano, B. (2017). Dispelling the myth that habitual caffeine consumption influences the performance response to acute caffeine supplementation. Journal of Applied Physiology, 123(1), 213–220.

Grgic, J., Lazinica, B., Garofolini, A., Schoenfeld, B., Saner, N. J. & Mikulic, P. (2019). The effects of time of day-specific resistance training on adaptations in skeletal muscle hypertrophy and muscle strength: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The Journal of Biological and Medical Rhythm Research, , 1–12.

Grgic, P. & Pickering, C. (2018). The effects of caffeine ingestion on isokinetic muscular strength: A meta-analysis. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 22(3), 353–360.

Kim, I., Schutzler, S., Schrader, A., Spencer, H. J., Azhar, G., Ferrando, A. A. & Wolfe, R. R. (2016). The anabolic response to a meal containing different amounts of protein is not limited by the maximal stimulation of protein synthesis in healthy young adults. American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism, 310(1), E73–E80.

Lee, S., Schultz, J., Timgren, J., Staelgraeve, K., Miller, M. & Liu, Y. (2018). An electromyographic and kinetic comparison of conventional and Romanian deadlifts. Journal of Exercise Science & Fitness, 16(3), 87–93.

Macnaughton, L. S., Wardle, S. L., Witard, O. C., McGlory, C., Hamilton, D. L., Jeromson, S., … Tipton, K. D. (2016). The response of muscle protein synthesis following whole‐body resistance exercise is greater following 40 g than 20 g of ingested whey protein. Physiological Reports, 4(15), e12893.

Morton, R. W., Murphy, K. T., McKellar, S. R., Schoenfeld, B., Henselmans, M., Helms, E., … Phillips, S. M. (2017). A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 52(6), 376–384.

Schoenfeld, B. & Aragon, A. (2018). How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building? Implications for daily protein distribution. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 15(10), .

Seimon, R. V., Roekenes, J. A., Zibellini, J., Zhu, B., Gibson, A. A., Hills, A. P., … Sainsbury, A. (2015). Do intermittent diets provide physiological benefits over continuous diets for weight loss? A systematic review of clinical trials. Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, 418(2), 153–172.

Wild, C. J., Nichols, E. S., Battista, M. E., Stojanoski, B. & Owen, A. M. (2018). Dissociable effects of self-reported daily sleep duration on high-level cognitive abilities. Sleep, 41(12), .

http://imgur.com/a/FGS0k

I am a 21 year old male 5'10''

In the first picture I was 170lbs taken on 5/27/13

In the second Picture I was 150lbs taken on 8/21/2013

I dropped 20 pounds in 2 and a half months.

I used intermittent fasting to achieve this physique. The Leangains method to be exact. Leangains.com has all the information you need to make this transformation. It is basically carb cycling with a 16 hour fast every day. I just concentrated on getting the protein I needed and ensured I was in a caloric deficit. I used a TDEE calculator for this.

EDIT: This is the exact URL I followed to structure this diet plan. Follow the links embedded and see how far the rabbit hole takes you. http://rippedbody.jp/2011/10/08/leangains-intermittent-fasting-guide-how-to-do-it-by-yourself/

For workouts I never did cardio and concentrated on compound lifts like bench, squats, pull-ups. I never do abs. These abs were achieved from using heavy weights which engage your core. Almost everything you do engages your core so your abs are getting worked every day (squats, bench)

Crunches and situps do not give you abs are not the key to abs. They may make a small difference overtime. But they really do not add to the overall mass of them. If you want them quick, then engage them with heavy weight.

Achieving this while working at McDonald's taught me that dieting doesn't have to consume your life and nor should it. This shows that you can splurge and look great at the same time. Before you ask, Yes I did eat McDonald's food while I worked there. And a lot of it! Nearly every day. My favorite was a Big Mac Double quarter pounder with bacon. That is a Big Mac with quarter pounder meat on it, not the little slivers of meat that come on the original sandwich lol. No their meat doesn't have horse in it and I love their grilled chicken. There are healthy foods to be had at McDonald's and other fast food chains for that matter.

The media destroys these companies when all they are doing is serving food. It is the customers responsibility to choose what they put in their body. At the end of the day it is all about your caloric intake and work ethic!

P.S.

A McDonald's parfait is not exactly "healthy". That is pure sugar.

EDIT: Wow this is scary. Front Page!? Thanks so much! You guys are awesome! My girlfriend is going to be so mad when she finds out how many people have seen me.

EDIT 2: No, this is not advertisement by McDonald's Corp. This is just an average guy who surprisingly found himself on the front page of Reddit. But if anyone knows a guy, who knows a guy in advertisement. I could use some change to get rid of these student loans ;)

EDIT 3: Getting a lot of question so I will try and address a few of them now. I can't possibly answer all of them though, I'm sorry :(

I do not know my max in any of my lifts, as I am not a power lifter or interested in the numbers. These pictures were taken over a year ago and I cannot remember what I was using for bench/squats/etc. I remember doing 225 for 8 on bench press a little after this cut. Put that in a one rep max calculator and its says it would be around 285 for my max. Who knows if those work or not. But again I will not try it because the numbers don't interest me. Just to give some of you an idea though, I am currently using 75lb dumbbells for overhead shoulder press, 100lb dumbbells for flat press, squats I do not go over 225. Bad knees run in the family. Had knee surgery in highschool. Pull-ups I tie 45 pound plate to me for added resistance.

Workouts: I like to go heavy on the compound movement, usually 8 to 10 reps when wanting to put on size, and reps of 5 when wanting to build strength. I like using strong lifts for building strength. I am a firm believer of working each body part at least twice a week. I like doing upper/lower body splits. Monday upper, Tuesday lower, Wednesday off, Thursday upper, Friday lower. Sat, Sun rest. Though I do not always follow this routine because I like to switch it up, but I always try to work each body part twice a week.

I am by no means a professional and do not plan to be. Do what you think is best. This method just worked for me so I wanted to share it.

UPDATE: No, I do not work at McDonald's anymore. I worked there while completing my Bachelor's Degree and Interning. Currently I am 183 lbs and started a career Information Technology. I continue to lift and plan my next cut in February, and should be done with it in May. Maybe I will see you guys again soon! Thanks for all the support! :)

SHOUT-OUT: To the Hodgetwins who follow a very similar diet as what I have done here. They are a great YouTube Channel (TwinMuscleWorkout) (FastingTwins) (Hodgetwins) and I highly suggest checking them out! They approach dieting and training in a fun way, the same way as I, and I never miss one of their videos. They were a big part of my inspiration and they can inspire you guys as well!

EDIT: "Intermittent Fasting" in the title of this thread should be replaced with "Intermittent Caloric Restriction" (creds to: u/Jiend).

I wrote a review on some recent fitness/nutrition papers. I tried my best to write for the layman but also not oversimplifying anything. I originally wrote all of this on an external page which will not be linked here but for those who wish to see it, kindly DM me. Regardless, I hope you all learn something and enjoy reading this. This is all written for educational purposes so any discussion or comments within this thread are very encouraged! Also, if everything is far too wordy for you, I have included TL;DRs for each section.

The covered topics: The anabolic window, intermittent caloric restriction, protein supplementation, omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and squat technique (chronological order).

The first paper that we will cover is a short one by Schoenfeld & Aragon (2018) in which they reviewed the literature on the “anabolic window” for protein intake after training. Short-term studies had conflicting results but a meta-analysis conducted by Schoenfeld, Aragon & Krieger (2013) actually showed a minor benefit to consuming protein immediately after a training bout in terms of muscle hypertrophy. However, after more analysis where they controlled for more variables, they found that this small benefit was more attributed to overall protein intake. This is because some studies did not match for daily protein intake between groups meaning that some groups were having a higher daily protein intake than some other groups (which is generally considered to be more important than intake timing).

This meta-analysis has what we call a “heterogeneity” in the literature used. This simply means that the papers pooled and analyzed together widely differed in methods, populations and outcomes. So amongst those papers, we could see different protein intakes, training and untrained individuals and some being matched and not matched for daily protein intake. The review highlighted a trial done by Schoenfeld, Aragon, Wilborn, Urbina, Hayward & Krieger (2017) where 21 trained participants exercised 3 times a week for 10 weeks while either being allocated to a group that consumed 25 grams of whey protein immediately before or after a training session. Hypertrophy was similar between groups but the dietary control in the study was questionable as subjects actually ate at a reported calorie intake that was lower than baseline when they were supposed to be bulking.

It is still up in the air as to whether there is any real benefit but all in all, the authors suggest that if there is any effect, it is likely very small. They also propose that a meal 3–4 hours before a workout is likely good enough as the anabolic response to a meal lasts up to 6 hours (Layman, 2004). 0.4/0.5 g/kg of protein intake pre or post exercise is also advised to be sufficient.

TL;DR: There may be some advantage to eating protein immediately after a workout but it may be very small. More rigorous research needs to be conducted. Meals 3–4 hours before training and 0.4/0.5 g/kg of protein pre/post workout may yield adequate results.

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A randomized control trial studying the effects of intermittent caloric restriction (compared to a standard, continuous caloric restriction) on body composition and other bio markers in 136 men and women was recently published. Schübel et al. (2018) split all subjects into 3 groups. The first group did continuous caloric restriction where the daily caloric deficit was around 20%. The second group followed a 5:2 pattern for intermittent caloric restriction in which 2 non-consecutive days of the week consisted of a caloric deficit of 75%. The final group was a control group; a group with no advice to lose body mass.

The first 12 weeks of the study (intervention phase) had the subjects work closely with dietitians to help follow their allocated diet plans. This included face-to-face sessions as well bi-weekly phone calls. The following 12 weeks (maintenance phase) had no advice from any dietitians but the participants did receive motivational support. In the final 26 weeks (follow-up phase), the subjects received no help whatsoever. Scales and diaries were provided to everyone to help track and follow their diets.

The primary outcome chosen by the researchers was the expression (taking genetic information and turning it into a product) of 82 genes that are related to the pathophysiology of obesity. Other studied variables include body mass index, blood pressure, waist circumference, body fat, liver fat, diet compliance and quality of life.

During the intervention phase, the intermittent caloric restriction group actually lost more body mass (-7.1%) compared to the continuous restriction group (-5.2%) but the p-value was just above significance (p=0.053). This just means that if were to repeat the experiment (assuming there is no difference between interventions and that results are obtained purely by chance), the chance of seeing a more extreme result is above a level that is considered safe. Anyways, after the 50 weeks, the percentage losses were a lot closer, -5.2% vs 4.9% for intermittent caloric restriction and continuous restriction respectively with no statistical significance. For the primary outcomes (gene expression), there was no difference. Between sub-groups like male vs female or overweight vs obese, there were no differences. There were no differences in biomarkers or quality of life.

An interesting finding was that the intermittent caloric restriction group had the worst compliance in the later weeks. From 49 participants, only 9 were doing 2 energy-restricted days per week at the final week. This may be reflected in the fact that the intermittent caloric restriction group had a higher mass re-gain after week 24 compared to the continuous restriction group. Despite this, there were never any significant differences in any body composition variables at any time point in the study.

TL;DR: Intermittent caloric restriction is a valid method for weight loss but there does not seem to be a metabolic advantage from 5:2 intermittent caloric restriction over continuous restriction in overweight individuals. It may be harder to follow the intermittent caloric restriction diet for an extended period of time.

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The next study was carried out amongst new recruits in the US army while doing their Initial Entry Training (IET). IET is basically where civilians learn the fundamentals of being a soldier and improve their fitness before moving on to become trained soldiers. The programme is known to be quite tough and part of this is due to the documented caloric deficit (~600kcals) that most of the recruits suffer from during training (McAdam, McGinnis, Ory, Young, Frugé, Roberts & Sefton, 2018). McAdam et al. (2018) sought to see if there was an effect from whey protein supplementation on body composition measures (body mass and skin folds) as well as fitness test results amongst 69 male recruits.

The investigation was done in a double-blinded fashion (both the subjects and the researchers did not know who was getting which intervention) and the intervention lasted 8 weeks. Two servings (293 kcal, 40g protein) of whey protein were given per day (morning and night). Another group received a carbohydrate placebo that was matched for calories. Dietary analysis was done through logs completed by subjects in week 1 and 9 on 3 non-consecutive days.

Both groups maintained about the same body mass and gained similar amounts of lean mass, however, there was a statistically significant, greater fat loss in the whey protein supplemented group with a large effect size (-4.6kg vs -2.7kg). An effect size is basically a numerical measure on how strong one variable affects another. It is generally categorized into small, medium or large effect sizes. In terms of fitness, the amount of sit-ups done in 2 minutes as well as the 2 mile run timing did not differ between groups despite seeing improvements in both groups. For push-ups, the whey protein group performed 7 more on average in 2 minutes (medium effect size).

Despite having regimented meals and meal times, dietary control was an issue with this study. There was a documented ~150 daily kcal intake difference between groups favoring the whey protein group. Therefore, the results may be due to the higher kcal intake rather than the higher protein intake or it may be more of a combination. There was also a great difference between all the subjects in terms of training history as evidenced by the extreme variation in lean mass between recruits at baseline. Training history has an effect on bodily response to protein as well as fitness. Lastly, this study lacks a control group. Regardless of these problems, it is clear that the additional calories ingested by the recruits had a positive effect on their fitness. Perhaps such a dietary approach can be adopted by the U.S. army in the future.

TL;DR: The whey protein supplemented group had more body fat loss and higher push-up counts compared to carbohydrate supplemented group consisting of young males. This study, however, contains a few shortcomings in design (no kcal/training history matching).

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A review on omega-3 fatty acid (n-3PUFA) supplementation for sports performance was recently published (Philpott, Witward & Galloway, 2018). From the work of Smith et al. (2011), we see that n-3PUFA supplementation has the potential to increase muscle protein synthesis (MPS) rates in response to protein intake. Muscle protein synthesis is the addition of muscle proteins to muscle, the building blocks of muscle. The main acids of discussion are eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and α-linolenic acid (ALA). EPA and DHA is mostly derived from fish oils while ALA is more from plant-based oils like soybean oil. An in-vitro (experiments done in controlled environments like laboratories instead of in living organisms like humans) study by Kamolrat & Gray (2013) found that DHA has no effect on MPS while EPA does. However, these effects on MPS may be redundant because optimal protein intake likely saturates any amelioration in MPS.

Unfortunately, no studies looking at the effects of n-3PUFA supplementation of muscle strength/hypertrophy in the young and athletic exist. Although, there is some evidence suggesting muscle strength/hypertrophy and performance benefits in older men and women(Smith, et al., 2015; Rodacki, et al., 2012). There is theory for n-3PUFAs to help with synthesizing mitochondria. The mitochondria are parts of a cell that have the role of producing energy for our body. However, only one study examined this relationship and while there was a positive correlation, it was conducted in obese subjects (Laiglesia et al., 2016). Therefore, the use of n-3PUFAs for improving endurance is largely still theoretical especially in the athletic population.

There is also some theory in n-3PUFAs having a positive effect on insulin sensitivity but it is mostly not understood. In a rodent study, increased expression of GLUT4 (protein which transports glucose to muscle, lowering blood glucose) was seen with n-3PUFA supplementation but any of this has yet to be seen in human experiments (Lanza, et al., 2013). Kawabata, Neya, Hamazaki, Watanabe, Kobayashi & Tsuji (2014) found reduced oxygen consumption with n-3PUFA supplementation in untrained, young males. This may be linked to insulin sensitivity theory as increased insulin sensitivity leads to more glycogen in muscles which would displace fat use for energy and less oxygen consumption as a result. This effect may not have such a considerable effect in sporting performance as Hingley, Macartney, Brown, McLennan, & Peoples (2017) found no improvement in time trial times, strength or average power with n-3PUFA use despite an observed reduction in oxygen consumption.

n-3PUFAs have anti-inflammatory properties so it has been proposed that they can support the recovery process after sport/exercise. However, the literature shows equivocal results. Finally, there is interesting discussion as to whether or not n-3PUFAs can aid in the recovery from a concussion as substantial amounts of DHA can be found in the brain. Wang et al. (2013) showed that rats had better cognitive performance with n-3PUFAs compared with rats that had soybean oil. The closest human evidence to all this theory was obtained by Oliver et al. (2016) in which less concentrations of a biomarker for head trauma was seen in American football players who ingested n-3PUFAs.

TL;DR: Omega 3 fatty acids have potential to improve muscle strength/hypertrophy, endurance, recovery and concussion recovery but much more evidence is needed before any recommendations can be made.

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Dutra, Alex, Mota, Sales, Brown & Bottaro (2018) ran a randomized control study to evaluate the relationship between antioxidants and muscle strength, hypertrophy and fatigue. 42 young women participated in the study and they were separated into 3 groups. The first group ingested 1000mg of vitamin C and 400IU of vitamin E daily. The second group received a placebo and the last group was the control. Everyone followed a periodized training programme consisting of 2 upper body and 2 lower body exercises 2 times per week for 10 weeks.

There were no reported differences in lower body muscle thickness, fatigue or strength. Furthermore, only the placebo group showed an improvement over control in peak torque and total work done. This indicates that antioxidant supplementation has a negative effect on muscular performance. It is unknown as to why the researchers did not assess the same variables in the upper body. The use of a dynamometer as a measure of strength limits applicability to training as more specific measurements like 1RM bench press or squat would give more realistic results. Finally, there was little to no dietary control within this study.

TL;DR: Antioxidant use was detrimental to muscular performance amongst young women.

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Comfort, McMahon & Suchomel (2018) undertook a review in search of the optimum squat technique. They defined optimum technique as having the least injury risk, most muscle activation and most carry-over to athletic performance. In regards to safety, they noted that squats are generally safer for the knee ligaments when compared to other leg exercises like leg extensions, however, the strain on the posterior collateral ligament increases with squat depth (Zheng, Fleisig, Escamilla & Barrentine, 1998). Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) strain can also be minimized by keeping the heels on the ground likely due to less tibial displacement (your shinbone moving around) with the heels on the ground (Toutoungi, Lu, Leardini, Catani & O’Connor, 2000).

Some people suggest to keep the knees behind the toes in the squat especially if you want to preserve knee joint health. While this does decrease the knee joint forces by 22%, it increases the hip joint forces by over 1000% and it may have negative effects on the lumbar spine due to a more forward trunk lean (Fry, A. C., Smith, J. C. & Schilling, B. K., 2003). One final point to make on injury risks is that using lighter loads for greater depth will not necessarily decrease the joint stress at the knee because the knee still has to withstand more force from the higher knee flexion angles as a result of increased squat depth.

As for squat depth, deep squats are better than 1/2 and 1/4 squats for strength and performances like jumping (Weiss, Andrew, Wood, Relyea & Melton, 2000; Hartmann, Wirth, Klusemann, Dalic, Matuschek & Schmidtbleicher, 2012). Part of these results were in conflict with a study done by Rhea et al. (2016) where sprints and jump performances were improved best in the 1/4 squat depth group when compared to those who did 1/2 depth or full depth squats. Bazyler, Sato, Wassinger, Lamont & Stone (2014) discovered that the addition of partial range of motion squats to full-depth squats over 7 weeks led to greater 1 rep-maximums against those who did only full-depth squats in trained men. However, this may simply just have to do with the increased volume as well as increased training intensity for those who did partial squats.

Digressing to muscle activation, smith machine squats have been shown to decrease activation in a couple of the quadriceps muscles (Schwanbeck, Chilibeck & Binsted, 2009). Before continuing, it is important to discuss the relation of electromyography (EMG, recording electrical activity from muscles) to muscle strength/hypertrophy. Correlation with strength has been documented by Hof (1997). The correlation with hypertrophy is not perfect but it is strongly correlated with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for measuring muscle activation and fMRI can adequately forecast muscle hypertrophy (Dickx, D’hooge, Cagnie, Deschepper, Verstraete & Danneels, 2010; Wakahara, Fukutani, Kawakami & Yanai, 2013).

In an EMG study run by Caterisano et al. (2002), the full squat was found to have had better activation in the glutes compared to parallel or partial squats. A more recent EMG experiment from Bryanton, Kennedy, Carey & Chiu (2012) discovered greater EMG responses in the knee extensors (quadriceps) with deeper squats but not in response to heavier loads. The glutes, however, responded more to heavier loads and deeper squats as well. This suggests the quadriceps can be “isolated” in a sense with low load, deep squats.

Foot rotation has only been reported to have an effect on hip abductor activation (the smaller glute muscles that sit under the gluteus maximus) with external rotation (feet turned out) and this rotation may allow for greater depths to be achieved (Pereira, Leporace, Chagas, Furtado, Praxedes & Batista, 2010). Lastly, an increased stance width (beyond shoulder width) results in more glute and adductor longus (thigh muscle under the quads, moves leg towards body along the lateral plane) activation.

In the end, the authors recommend a squat with a “natural” stance width / foot rotation, heels on the floor, full depth (115–125 degrees of knee flexion), neutral spine and free movement of the knees (allowed to go over toes).

TL;DR: Squats are fine for knee ligaments. Heels on floor = less ACL strain. Knees behind toes cause more hip joint stress. Deep squats generally better. Smith machine may have less activation of relevant muscles, greater depth has better activation, feet rotation does not have much of an effect and wider stance width can activate glutes more.

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Bryanton, M., Kennedy, M. D., Carey, J. & Chiu, L. Z. F. (2012). Effect of Squat Depth and Barbell Load on Relative Muscular Effort in Squatting. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 26(10), 2820–2828.

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Kawabata, F., Neya, M., Hamazaki, K., Watanabe, Y., Kobayashi, S. & Tsuji, T. (2014). Supplementation with eicosapentaenoic acid-rich fish oil improves exercise economy and reduces perceived exertion during submaximal steady-state exercise in normal healthy untrained men. Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, 78(12), 2081–2088.

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McAdam, J. S., McGinnis, K. D., Ory, R., Young, K. C., Frugé, A. D., Roberts, M. D. & Sefton, J. M. (2018). Estimation of energy balance and training volume during Army Initial Entry Training. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 15(55), .

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Two years ago, photo on the left, I was my heaviest. 162 lbs.

I began running and and a little lifting. I lost 12 lbs in 5 months.

Since that time I remained a steady 148lbs while increasing strength and working towards general badassery.

I ran stronglifts 5x5 for a year and moved to a Westside style template.

I've competed in a power lifting comp. I can bench 135, squat 235, and dead lift 225. I'm strong. I've learned to love my body and be confident.

I began my cut at the end of March. Roughly 8 wks in and I'm down 7 lbs from when I started. Currently at 1600 cals with P 35%/ F 35%/ C 30% break down. I follow IIFYM with mostly whole foods, and also cupcakes.

Today I'm 143lbs, and in the best shape of my life.

http://imgur.com/TLjppPP

Edit: Ok, going to try and handle all the questions-

I'm 5'4".

I hit my heaviest right before getting pregnant, and worked out a bit after giving birth. My "aha moment" was that photo on the left, taken near my daughters 2nd birthday. Though it took several months for me to take action. I was 30 then, I am 32 now.

The first 12 lbs lost was not in the smartest way, 1200 calories with no regard for macros. I also trained for a 5 and 10k at this time.

During maintenance/growth I ranged from 1900 to 2100 calories. Protein usually around 130g, fat usually around 70g, and the carbs move around the most.

I'm losing fat right now on the 1600, P 35%/ F 35%/ C 30% break down. I do cardio twice a week, 15 minutes hiit on the spin bike, and 20 minute intervals on the step mill the other day. I lift 4 days a week. Have lost 7 lbs this way in 8 weeks.

Strength on cut: My max efforts just aren't there, but I'm trying to make up for it in my work sets. My bench work sets have gone up, while I am unable to hit my max. Squat is remaining the same. Deadlift has been shaky as I've been dealing with a few injuries recently and I'm not in a hurry to max out.

I loved 5x5. It's really so easy to follow. You modify for girls just as Mehdi says (going up less weight for upper lifts each session). Get that form down! Start with the bar, go up in small increments.

Advice for training fiance: the same as you. Encourage her that lifting heavy will not make her big. It's all based on genetics as well as body fat.

Belly- belly skin: How bellies go back after kids is all based on genetics. I have a couple faint stretch marks, and if I suck in really tight, you can see loose skin just around the belly button. I really got off easy. Sometimes the only solution is surgery :(

Thank you all for your kind comments, and for the amusing ones.

Here’s the post: It's Not Because You're Hungry – 14 Ways to Control Your Eating

Hey /r/Fitness,

This is the third (and possibly final) guide I’ve written for you guys. After the first two on consistently going to the gym and choosing a beginner weight training program, I had dozens of requests for a guide on the psychology of eating and sticking to a consistent diet.

So, here it is.

When most people are asked why they eat, the answer is simple: “hunger.”

We definitely do eat because we’re hungry, but there are a million other factors that can cause us to eat more (or less) without realizing. Who we're with, where we are, what time it is, what we're eating off of, and where the food is all have a major impact on our eating habits.

By understanding the things that make us eat, we can adjust our lifestyles to effortlessly eat more or less.

One thing to note: I know /r/fitness loves counting calories. I agree that counting calories is effective and will work, but I also think that it can be tedious and overwhelming, especially for someone that is simultaneously trying to start an exercise habit. Changing too much at once can be a recipe for disaster.

I personally don’t count calories (I have, didn’t like it much), and the advice in this guide is not geared towards calorie counting. That said, it will still be helpful to those that do count calories. Understanding why you’re tempted to snack can help you resist (or encourage!) snacking and more easily hit your macros.

The guide is split into two parts:

Part One covers the common elements of our environment that cause us to over or undereat. You’ll learn why you don’t just eat when you’re hungry, and begin to identify the deeply ingrained food habits that govern your behavior.

Part Two tackles the most common eating struggles we face as mindless eaters. You’ll learn how to control portion size, how to control snacking, how to eat out less, and what to do when you eat out.

In part one, we’ll discuss some common elements of our environment that contribute to eating. Namely:

• Social eating
• Time-based eating
• Clean-plate eating
• Dish size
• Accessibility of food

In part two, I provide 14 ways to manage the 3 major aspects of eating: Portion size, snacking, and eating out.

Portion size:

1. Use smaller dishes/utensils
2. Keep serving dishes away from the table
3. Get a new plate for each serving
4. Slow down
5. Be mindful (sometimes)

Snacking:

1. Hide your snacks
2. Never eat from the bag
3. Use a cookie counter
4. Swap, don’t stop
5. Understand your snacking

Eating out:

1. Meal prep
2. Get better at cooking
3. Track the cost of eating out
4. Portion control

You’ll notice that most of these tips seem geared towards people trying to lose weight. In each I also give tips for those trying to gain, but the tips are basically the same: do the opposite of the tactics you would use to lose weight.

This is the last mega-guide I’ll post here for quite a while (I’ll still be posting other stuff on my site), so I hope you find it useful.

Let me know what you think!

Progress Pics: https://imgur.com/a/6rkx5yC

Background: I had been working out off and on for years and years, but was often held back by diet, lack of discipline, lack of intensity, lack of volume. My girlfriend during these years always wanted to eat out and drink, and would always encourage me to skip it and say she doesn't like guys with muscles or six packs. Basically, I wasn't half assing it, I was quarter assing it. And when that relationship ended, I decided to finally commit myself to having the body I always wanted.

Age: 29 Height: 5'11

Timeline: ~Six months slow clean bulk (From 155lb to 177lbs) ~Four months cut (From 177lbs to 155lbs)

Routine:

I started with PHAT, eventually moved to PPL, then back to PHAT when I began my cut. Complex freeweight movements. 18-21 sets on a bulk, 15-18 on a cut. Skip the machines. At some point during your lifting, you should have a moment that scares you. When you're like fuck this is heavy I don't know if I can do this. Where you have to actually round up some grit to hit the numbers. you cannot make a change with a pedestrian mentality. Everything needs to be measured. Weight, bodyfat percentage, food/calories, rest periods, sets, lifts, reps, all of it. Write it all down. You need to set standards so you have an accurate picture of what you're trying to outdo the next time you visit the gym. These numbers will also be highly valuable to you half a year from now when you want to compare your progress. Use a simple pair of calipers and practice getting a consistent reading. It's more about comparing yourself to last week or last month than so much a truly accurate estimation of bodyfat percentage.

Mentality:

If you want to stop looking skinnyfat and start looking like a fit person, then you have to become one. You can't simply pretend to be one for an hour, a day, a month, and go back to your old habits. It is a permanent change. You have to literally become a new person, one with new habits and values. You have to channel some kind of fuck you primal mentality. When you go to lift the heavy weight you have to feel this fuck you stupid piece of shit light weight aint fucking nothing bitch ass weight inside you.(inside you, not outside you making weird noises). You cannot have a pedestrian mentality. The numbers must. go. up. you must beat last weeks high score. Again, and again, and again. But do NOT do this by lowering the range of motion, taking longer breaks, using momentum to lift instead of your muscles, cheating your form, etc. it must be in the same vein as your previous lifts.

Diet:

(bulk) TDEE + 500cal (cut) TDEE - 500cal + EC Stack TDEE Calculator: https://tdeecalculator.net/

Get your one gram per 1lb lean body mass protein, but other than that, ignore all the fad diet low carb high carb no X no Z BS. Obviously you need to skip the sugar/fast food/etc., but other than that do whatever helps you stick to your goals. The harder/more restricted you make your diet the more likely it is you won't stick to it. I found it helpful to find 4-5 tasty meals that I genuinely enjoy, measure them so I know exactly what I'm eating and that it aligns with my TDEE needs, and eat them daily. This way I can skip the math and measurements more or less because I've done it.

Make it easy for yourself. If every day is feeling like hell, you need to reevaluate. I did all this while happily eating bananas, whole wheat bread/tortillas, oats, Fresca (calorie free soda) and found dieting to be surprisingly easy. There was no need for a cheat day, ever. Hitting that TDEE - 500cal day consistency is more valuable than punishing yourself with nothing but chicken rice and broccoli every day, leading to a Saturday night binge.

What I eat while cutting:

Meal 1: 5 eggs 2 slices of toast 1 glass Fresca

Meal 2: 2 Toast, 2 tbsp peanut butter, 2 Banana

Meal 3: Whey Protein w/ Water + Cup of Oats

Meal 4 (pre workout) one banana (post workout) one banana one scoop whey

Meal 5: Veggie Burrito (boiled spinach, corn, beans, Newman's black bean salsa omg so good)

snack if needed: pickles. Pretty filling, almost no calories

Lift Numbers-

When I was around 165lbs I had my best numbers(don't have record of my starting numbers). I didn't really value one rep maxes but to try and give an idea:

Deadlift: 420lb x 1

Squat: 295 x 9

Dumbbell Bench: 100's x 10 (barbell messes with my shoulders a lot)

tl;dr progress pics- https://imgur.com/a/6rkx5yC

Here's the pics.

The only decent gym in my area charges $50 per month and it's always packed, so I figured i'd try building a gym for the price of roughly a one year membership (~$600).

Here's the rundown:

• Standard weights (220 lbs), dumbbells, ez bar and standard bar on CL - $100
• Olympic weights (400 lbs), olympic bar and pair of 35 lb hex dumbbells on CL - $200
• Olympic bar from Amazon - $70
• Power Rack from Amazon - $200
• Bench from Amazon - $100
• Floor mats - $80
• Weight stand from play it again sports - $25
• 5 54x24 mirrors on CL - $40

Total - $815

I went a bit over my budget, but I might still end up selling some of those Olympic plates. I justified the extra I spent by telling myself I can always just sell most of this stuff on CL and still end up with a relatively minimal loss compared to what I originally bought the stuff for.

For anyone thinking about doing something like this themselves, I can't recommend mirrors enough. Not only do they let you look at your magnificent self while you lift heavy things, but they're terrific at both adding more light to the room and helps you keep your form in check.

If I had to do it all over again, I think the only thing I would do different is buying the heavy duty floor mats instead of the jigsaw ones. You can tell they're cheap and they seem like they're already breaking down a bit. I'm going to buy at least one to put underneath the Olympic bar i've got on the ground there.

I'm also probably going to buy a pair of dip handles and something to tag onto the side of the cage to hold the rest of the weights i've got stacked in the corner, so I can use that space for stuff like curls and resistance band exercises.

27M 6’3”

Starting Weight: 205 lbs

Current Weight: 188 lbs

Around 2.5 years ago my now wife and I went on a trip to Costa Rica with her family for the Christmas holiday break. When I got back and looked at pictures of myself it really hit me that I was no longer that guy who could eat whatever he wanted and not gain any weight. In my teens and early twenties I was pretty active, played sports, and never had to pay much attention to what I ate. Somewhere along the lines I stopped being as active and everything started catching up with me. I started hitting the gym that week and haven’t stopped since.

I initially dropped from 205 to 178 in about 6 months, so about a pound per week (more in the beginning, less towards the end). I did IIFYM and IF and tried to eat about 80% clean and 20% treats. I lifted in the past for sports, so I knew my way around weights enough to get by. I started out with some random routine I found online that was some sort of reverse pyramid training 3 days a week, but I honestly can’t remember exactly what it was. After my initial cut, I had kind of a fail on my first bulk and put on too much fat and not enough muscle. I cut down again and ended up around 181 with slightly higher body fat, so I didn’t really add much mass.

Finally did my first successful bulk/cut this past year starting last June. I just finished up cutting down for the summer from my bulked weight of 204 to 188 and am probably at the lowest body fat I’ve ever been. I’m guessing I’ll end up around 190-192 when I start eating more again and upping my carb intake. For both the bulk and cut I did a PPL routine 6 days a week and dropped volume as needed during my cut. I stuck with IIFYM throughout and did IF when cutting. I also added some cardio towards the end of my cut, either walking up hill or jump rope.

Overall I’ve learned a lot these past couple years and have really enjoyed lifting and bodybuilding as a new hobby. Looking forward to starting my next bulk soon. Feel free to ask any questions, I’d be happy to provide more info for those that are interested.

Pictures: From top to bottom:

https://imgur.com/a/7nNyXRj

1. Before and after
2. Start: 205 lbs
3. After first cut: 178 lbs
4. After first bulk/cut (kind of a fail): 181 lbs
5. After recent bulk: 204 lbs
6. After recent cut: 188 lbs
7. Collage of them all in one picture

More Detailed info:

Diet:

I use MFP to track everything that I eat.

I try to eat clean 80% of the time and then treat myself 20% of the time with sweets or really fatty foods.

I do about ~1 g/lb body weight for protein, ~0.4 g/lb body weight fat, and the rest carbs. I eat anywhere from 2000-3400 calories depending on if I am bulking or cutting and my TDEE is somewhere around 2800.

I eat a lot of chicken, but am not a fan of just baked chicken, rice, and veggies. I try to mix it up and make different things but here are some go-tos:

· Chicken Tacos

· Chicken Stir fry (use riced cauliflower instead of rice when cutting)

· Pizza on cauliflower crust (Trader Joe’s has a good one but it’s on the higher end for carbs)

· Pasta (use spaghetti squash when cutting)

· Chicken chili

· Some prepackaged pastas, Indian food, etc from Trader Joes

· Lunch meat wraps on lavash (low cal for a large wrap with a lot of fiber)

· Protein shakes

I like to try new things and my wife and I will often try different recipes and modify ingredients to make them “healthier”. It helps me keep on my diet to have some go to things where I know all the macros, but also try new things to keep from getting bored. However, I do eat pretty much the same turkey wrap for lunch every day. I’m typically too busy during the day to care what I eat and it fits in with my macros well most of the time.

When I’m bulking I also add in things like bagels and cereal for extra carbs. I also have a protein shake almost every day.

A sample cutting meal would be:

· 10 AM Post Workout: Protein Shake

· 12 PM lunch: Turkey wrap on lavash with chips (the baked Jalapeno chips) and sometimes another shake

· 7 PM dinner: Chicken tacos with Mexican rice and veggies for dinner

Bulking is similar, but I add:

· A bagel with cream cheese for breakfast.

· Milk and sometimes fruit or peanut butter added to protein shake.

· More carbs with dinner, so have more rice with tacos for instance.

· A bowl of cereal with 2% milk before bed.

Lifting:

I honestly don’t remember much about my first routine when I initially lost weight and unfortunately I lost the spreadsheet I had on my phone. It was a reverse pyramid training program that was split up into a 3 day per week workout.

More recently I have been doing a PPL routine:

6 days per week starting with push on Monday. I typically rest on Sundays, but sometimes in the middle of the week if something comes up. I’ve subbed in different lifts at different times and like to play around with new lifts from time to time, but here is an example of what I would do on each day.

Push: incline or flat bench (3x8), shoulder press (3x8), chest flyes (3x12), lateral raises (3x12), tricep extensions (3x12), tricep pull downs or dips (3x12)

Pull: seated rows (3x8), weighted pull ups (3x8), single arm rows (3x12), face pulls (3x12), barbell curls (3x8), hammer curls (3x12)

Legs: squats or leg press (3x8), straight leg deadlifts (3x8), leg extensions (3x12), leg curls (3x12), calf raises (3x12), some sort of abs (switched up frequently)

I do different rep ranges from 4x6 to 3x12 and typically stick to higher weight lower reps for the compound exercises and vice versa for accessories, but I switch things up periodically to keep myself engaged.

Some numbers:

Incline bench: 215 3x8 (haven’t done flat in a while honestly, but probably around 240 3x8)

OHP: 160 3x8

Squat: 275 3x5

Pull-ups: bw + 55 3x8

Seated rows: 215 3x8

I don’t deadlift anymore, but SLDL: 275 3x5

I tore my hamstring a while back so leg numbers didn’t progress as well as upper body since I had to stop training them for a while.

I also add in some cardio like walking on the treadmill at an incline or jumping rope when I’m near the end of my cut.

Lessons Learned:

IF and IIFYM are great: I think intermittent fasting is great for cutting. I’m not sold on all the extra benefits that some claim it gives, but it does allow me to eat a giant delicious dinner every night, which really helps keep me on my diet. I also really enjoy IIFYM since it allows me to work in foods I really enjoy on a regular basis. Make sure to get enough micronutrients though as that can be easy to overlook sometimes. Eat your vegetables and take a multivitamin.

DON’T DIRTY BULK: If you really want to, go for it, but I don’t think it’s worth it. I had a great few months on my first “bulk” just eating whatever I wanted and getting nice and fat. But I ended up putting on mostly fat and made barely any progress once I cut down. If you’re natural I just can’t see a reason to do this. Your body can only put on so much muscle at a time. I still like bulking/cutting rather than doing a very slow bulk year-round because I think you get better results and I like switching it up, but you have to bulk within reason.

Stick with a program: While I do like to tweak things here and there, I think it’s important to stick to a base program for a decent period of time. Don’t waste your time trying to find the new best thing every other month. Just pick something and stick to it. Unless you’re a very advanced lifter most programs will work for you and you’ll be more inclined to continue going to the gym if you stick with one routine. Feel free to make some small modifications if you want to keep things interesting or fit your needs better, but don’t gut your whole program.

Weekly Treat/Cheat meals are awesome: Every week I have one meal where I don’t track the calories or macros at all, although I don’t go too crazy and eat an entire pizza and order of breadsticks by myself. Typically my wife and I will go out to dinner somewhere. This really helps keep me on my diet and makes me feel good from both a mental and physical standpoint.

Have a workout buddy: If you enjoy working out on your own that’s definitely fine, but I find it helpful to have someone to lift with. My wife and I do a great job of keeping each other on track and doing thing like pushing the other to go to the gym when feeling lazy. It’s nice to have someone else to help motivate you when you may not always have the motivation yourself.

Track your changes: Take tons of measurements and progress pics. It’s the only way to know for sure how you are progressing and it may seem tedious but you’ll be thankful for that info when you want to reflect back and see how far you’ve come. If you’re a nerd like me, put it all in excel and make lots of charts :).

Fit in cardio where you can: When you’re cutting you can fit in random times to do cardio to help with the weight/fat loss. I used to walk to and from work which came out to around 3 miles of walking a day. I didn’t realize it but it definitely added up. Also, my wife and I live in the city so we take nightly walks around the neighborhood. It’s about a mile and half of walking and it’s a nice added bonus of getting to spend extra time together.

Progress Video Edit: Just read that I'm allowed to post a video if it's in relation to the post, check it out! It summarizes my progress.

##Hi Reddit! I shared my progress pictures with my family and friends yesterday. I got nice comments that I thought to write about my fitness progress so far in more detail here.

##Stats

• Height: 5'11" / 180 cm

• Age: 16

• Progress pics

• Starting weight: 125 lbs. / 57 kg

• After weight: 152 lbs. / 69 kg

##Initial motivation

I always wanted to go to the gym. I was weak and quite underweight. I could only do a few pushups and only one proper pullup. I browsed /r/fitness and /r/bodybuilding a lot but never really got around to it. There was a gym in my town but it was quite expensive €38 per month without a free weight area.

##Training

I started off doing bodyweight training only. My town did not have any fitness parks to workout at. Instead I used different school playgrounds as my main workout area. As the exercises became easier I either added weight through a backpack full of boring school books or moved on to a harder progression which you can see below.

######Basic Workout Breakdown:

This is a basic example of what my average workout looked like. Some days I'll sub in different exercises, but this will give you a good starting point. For example once I got to 15 reps on pushups for 3 sets I either added weight through a backpack or moved onto diamond pushups.

##Diet

I usually eat whatever I want and I make sure to get enough calories and protein at the end of the day. But I know people on r/fitness always want the full package so below is an example of what my diet looks like on a school day.

##Supplements

I didnt take protein shakes, BCAAs, ZMA, etc. Simply because I could not afford it. The only supplements I have taken daily and will continue to do so are:

• Vitamin C

• Vitamin D

I feel like that's all I need for now. As my budget increases, I might consider experimenting with taking other supplements.

##Sleep

I know and feel sleep is important. School requires me to get up at 06:30. This is why I am in bed 22:30 Sunday to Friday. I religiously sleep 8 hours at least and about 8.5-9 in the weekend.

##Habits

I now workout three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I can't remember a moment in my life dedicating to something and being consistent with it before I started fitness.

I also wake up and go to bed at the same time almost every day. Before I would wake up one day at 10 am and go to bed at 2 am.

Last but not least I changed my way of eating from around barely 1300 calories a day to 3000 a day which was necessary for the gainz to be made.

##Conclusion

Starting to workout has been the best decision in my life so far. I have changed my habits and I have probably laid a good foundation for the rest of my fitness and life journey. I am feeling much happier and more productive in general.

Training wise I came to the conclusion that weighted work is much easier to program progressive overload allowing you to see more consistent gains. Due my dedication my brother bought me a gym membership. The past weeks I started with barbell squats and deadlifts. I missed out on so much fun leg gainz.

Edit 1: Thanks for the nice comments everyone. I've always been paying attention to school and performing well. Only thing that changed is that I am able to do more pullups now.

Edit 2: I'm new to Reddit. Someone gave me a month's worth of Reddit Gold. Can somebody explain Reddit Gold to me?

Edit 3: The workout is supposed to be done three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Each workout takes about 50-80 min. For example 3x12 stands for 3 sets of 12 pushups.

http://www.navytimes.com/story/opinion/2015/12/05/editorial-revamp-navy-fitness-test-prt-pfa-overhaul/76009196/

"It's well past time, for example, to deep-six the sit-up, an outdated exercise today viewed as a key cause of lower back injuries."

EDIT: Considering removing sit-ups--I realized belatedly this is an editorial. But they are thinking of revamping the test, apparently in the direction of more "functional fitness." The article is short and worth a read.

EDIT 2: I love you all...

Spotify link to the album

[YouTube] (https://youtu.be/hLA90sC3elU)

If anyone doesn't know, it's a workout album that Arnold Schwarzenegger made back in like 1980 or something. It's so funny to listen to, but for the first time ever in my life, I'm enjoying working out. Even after almost two weeks of listening to this, I still find myself laughing at it. The workout itself only takes about 45 minutes, and here's what it entails:

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER'S TOTAL BODY WORKOUT

12 squats

Stretches

10 jumping jacks

30 pushups

45 calf raises

30 doorknob pull-ups

15 lunges no weight

18 tricep dips

75 sit-ups

30 crunches

Be proud of yourself, visualize perfect form

12 squats

Stretches

10 jumping jacks

12 barbell curls

36 calf raises with weight

12 wrist curls

6 lunges with weight

12 seated press

12 bench press

75 sit-ups

15 tricep dips

12 bent-over rows

Be proud of yourself, visualize perfect form

Anyway, I'm just wondering if this is even a good workout or not. I do feel pretty worked at the end, especially after doing so many sit-ups, but I feel as if in some places I could be doing more. I'm really a rookie when it comes to working out, so I really don't know.

Original

After years of hard work, this is my latest cut picture and the first one I am really proud of.

First, here's the Progress Picture.

At 41, I'm older than most here. I'm going to outline some things I've learned in the hope that it will help others.

I have three big takeaways that I want to lay out.

1) This progression shows what is possible when starting out as a skinny-fat desk worker in your late 30's. I have never had a muscular physique nor excelled in sports to any degree.

2) Over the past few years exercising years I've gotten much stronger, and I have bulked and cut many many times. But whenever I cut, I was disappointed with the results. I simply became skinny, with little definition. But this last cut was different for a few reasons.

• I switched to a body building routine
• I paid extra attention to to abs and obliques
• I counted protein religiously
• I took the plunge and cut an extra 7 lbs lower than I normally do, even though this put me at seemingly low overall weight

3) I got a surprising result. DEXA showed I was able to gain 4 lbs of lean to my "lower trunk" despite being on a drastic cut. I believe this was possible due to noob gains. This is odd since I have been power-lifting for many years. But only during my cut did I concentrate hard on exercises exclusively hitting abs and obliques. My theory is that you can experience noob gains in specific areas that are underdeveloped while cutting.

Quick Background

I've always been really skinny. I was 125 lbs in high school 5'11". Working out daily and playing football didn't change that. (My buddies all packed on muscle, but I stayed super-thin) After high school I packed on weight, but it was all fat.

At 35 I was 170 lbs, very skinny fat. I had bad wrists and a bad back. I was probably well over 35% BF, judging by future DEXA scans. But I still looked pretty "thin" in clothes. I had a pot-belly.

4 years ago I discovered keto on Reddit and gave it a shot. I lost a ton of weight going down to about 149 lbs. This was the first time I felt in control of my body. I lost lots of fat, but now I was really skinny and weak.

I then started to exercise slowly, learning along the way. I started with exercise bands, and a simple workout. (I was so weak!)

I eventually got into power lifting and olympic lifting. I wasn't great at it, but I kept getting stronger.

Lifting Scores

My lifting scores were really at the bottom. Starting lifting scores

• DL 95 lbs
• Squat 65 lbs
• Bench 65 lbs

Over the next few years I found routines, hit the gym 5-6 days a week and made progress. I cycled my bulks and cuts. I made mistakes along the way. Current lifting scores

• DL 350 lbs (yay)
• Squat 215 lbs (meh)
• Bench 165 lbs (boo)

(Dead lifting comes easy to me, which is great considering I used to have chronically bad wrists and lower back. That's all gone now, and I feel fantastic.)

Note: I have relatively long arms. That probably helps my deadlift and hurts my bench.

Main mistakes over the years past

• I bulked too fast, causing me to have to cut too much.

I chased the immediate power lifting scores at the expense of packing on fat. One time I bulked added 2.6lbs per week! I now aim for .6lbs per week.

• I didn't count protein. Once I did, I realized I was deficient.

"I eat fine. I don't need to count macros. I don't want to live like a lab rabbit." I was wrong. You should count macros at least once. This will give you a good audit of your diet. You'll be forced to make adjustments. Going forward you'll have a better intuitive idea of your macros and better habits.

• I didn't stick to rigorous programs at first.

My worst progress was when I just went to the gym and "worked out really hard". My best progress was when I decided on a program and stuck to it for many months.

This Last Cut

I was invited to a fun pirate party for a friends 50th birthday. I challenged myself to go semi-bare chested and show off a great physique. I knew of the event 6 months in advance, so I planned accordingly.

So far every time I very time I cut I just looked thin, with no definition.

I had 4 DEXAs previously and doing the math I calculated that I needed to cut to nearly 135lbs! I never had the nerve to cut so low as it sounded ridiculous. But considering that I was 125 lbs in high school, maybe it makes some sense.

I was very nervous of the outcome.

Results

No one was more shocked than me at the results.

Several friends asked if I was wearing some sort of fake muscle shirt!

After the photo (and party) I stopped cutting, I shot up nearly 5 lbs overnight. The abs remain but they are much less defined now. (The DEXA showing 13% was taken 10 days after the party.)

This is what I looked like a few weeks later at 145 lbs

Stats

Weight160lbs => 138lbs (22lbs Lost)

Age41 years old

BF% At final

I used three methods

• 13% - DEXA (10 days after picture)
• 7% - Calipers (5-point Jackson Pollock)
• 10.45% - Impedance Scale

DEXA Scan Results

My cut was pretty drastic. I was worried that I'd lose muscle.

I took a "before" DEXA. It was many months before I started the cut, but it's a pretty good comparison.

Previous DEXA to Final picture was

• 19.4% => 13%
• Lean 7.2lbs GAINED
• Fat 10.0lbs LOST

Diet

DEXA scan says my RMR is 1500.

My cal/day started at 2,000 and tapered down to 1,000 cal / day towards the end.

Looking at my daily log

Week 1: 2,000 cal per day

Week 2: 1,500 cal per day

Week 4: 1,300 cal per day

Week 6: 1,200 cal per day

Week 8 - 10: 900 cal per day (But If I'm honest I was not hitting that and averaging 1,025 cal per day)

This is pretty extreme so I started cutting out 200 calories a day over a week to ease into it.

Breakfast

• Coffee with 1 tbsp heavy cream

Lunch

• Low cal fish (Talapia, Mahi Mahi) (no oil)
• 8oz brussle sprouts

Snack(I'd usually eat my snack right before hitting the gym)

• Protein bar or shake (Epic Chicken bar has 15g Protein and 100cals)
• Alternates: Pork Rinds, Sardines in Water on Lettuce, Bone Broth, Greek Yogurt, 2 eggs

Dinner

• 8oz New York Steak
• Alternates: Chicken, Turkey, Shrimp
• Veggies

Alcohol

• No way, Jose. No cheating this time.

Exercise Routine

Before this cut I have never done a bodybuilding routine. I have only done power lifting routines with accessories. Previous routine was nSuns AMRAP. I also ran Ben Pollack's Unf* your Program.

The nSuns had the biggest impact bringing my combined power lifting score from 538lbs to 779lbs.

During the cut I did Scott Herman's Bodybuilding Split. Which is basically

• Monday: Chest (Dumbell, cable flys, etc)
• Tuesday: Back,Biceps, obliques (pull downs, curls, etc)
• Wednesday Glutes,Quads,Traps (Squat, etc)
• Thursday: Hamstrings Shoulders (Dead lift, Lat Raises, etc)
• Friday: Abs and Obliques
• Saturday: Rest
• Sunday: Start Over

Cardio

• Moderate.
• 20 minutes Stairmaster after a workout. Some light jogging for 20 minutes at a time.

A Note on Abs and Obliques

My obliques got HUGE. DEXA literally says that I gained 4lbs of the total 7lbs in my lower trunk area (abs and obliques). I am positive that all of this happened during the cut and not before.

A few thoughts. I think I was severely under trained in my obliques, thus I was able to experience the magical noob-gains in that area, while my other, more trained areas, stayed about the same.

Compound lifts alone did NOT work my abs and obliques enough.

I needed target exercises such as

• Wood Choppers
• Side Bends

They key seems to be to do these SLOW, controlled, with solid form, and really feel the obliques. Mentally isolate the oblique and try to only use that muscle for the exercise.

--

I hope that this encourages some older folks or skinny-fat folks to hang in there and stay the course. And remember kids, count your protein.

--

EDIT

My Lifting Scores

I HAVE NOT been "lifting for four years". Four years ago I started to diet and get more healthy.

The first few years of my four-year journey consisted of light exercises, learning how to exercise.

I didn't even know what a squat or deadlift was 2+ years ago.

I started my first serious strength program (nSUNS AMRAP) 13 months ago. I added 270lbs to my combined score within 6 months. As stated in the "Mistakes" section, I wasted time by not following a rigorous program.

Being a strongman powerlifter is NOT my goal. I am not offering powerlifting advice or claiming to be good at it.

Frame-Size

I'm really small-framed. So please keep that in mind before applying anything I did to you.

My dad and brother are 6'4" and naturally hover at 280lbs. They have big hands and thick wrists. (My dad once dieting down to 210lbs and he was THIN.)

My brother told me that even if he doesn't workout for a few years he can walk into the gym rep 215lb on the bench with ease.

My wrists are 5.75"! (I think that's considered small even for a woman.)

I wear a size small shirt, have a 30" waste, small wrists, small ankles, narrow feet.

I naturally hover at about 160 lbs.

My DEXA shows my RMR at only 1500 cal/day. Most guys are naturally much larger and need more calories. I do not recommend my daily cal/day for others.

Also, this was a temporary cut over 10 weeks for a specific date. This is not a lifestyle, this is an experiment.

--

Bonus Photos

In celebration of hitting 3.5k upvotes, here's a bonus pirate photo! ARG!

That's a professional Johny Depp impersonator. He pulled it off really well by getting extremely drunk and staggering about slurring his words.

Hi r/fitness! This is just my personal success story. Many times along the way, I came into this sub (along with r/loseit and r/progresspics) for inspiration and motivation and I believe it helped me get through some of the harder days when I just wanted to give up.

I still remember the day, I was watching my son in swimming lessons, looking at the gym in the same building and wondering if I could do it. I have been overweight most of my life and never thought I could really lose the weight. It was April 2013 and I made a goal for myself the next day. I was going to be 165lbs by the time I started Nursing School in September. I downloaded MyFitnessPal and started counting calories. I worked 10 hours a day in a highly physical job but made myself go to the gym every night after work for at least an hour. I had one training session where they taught me to do a half hour of weights and a half hour of cardio. I stuck to this routine religiously and the weight just fell off. It was the middle of August 2013 when I got on the scale and it read 164lbs. I cried so hard that day. I had hit the goal I set for myself and was more confident than ever. I will never forget that day!

Fitness has turned into a passion for me now. Its part of my life. It got me through nursing school and many hard times in my life. Many days after a long day at the hospital, I come to the gym to unwind and rejuvenate. The gym is my escape. I head to the gym when I am happy, sad or just bored. I cant picture my life without it now. I have gained great friends, immense knowledge and an appreciation for this body I live in that I never had before.
I have never stopped setting goals. When I hit one PR, I start working on the next. I believe that is the key to my success - constant goal setting and a thorough determination to be better than I was the day before.

Now the good part - Pictures!! Before: http://imgur.com/a/qNLSG After (Today): http://imgur.com/a/jTFnU

Thanks for reading! :)

Edit: Diet is the most important key to my success, I believe. When I started I kept my calories around 1500/day. I exercised using weight machines and mostly elliptical, for an hour a day, at least 6 days a week. As the weight started coming off, I continued to count calories but changed my routine to a more endurance based program, with lower weights and higher reps. I then went to a 5x5 strength gaining program and started incorporating squats, deadlifts, etc. Thats where I really found my love. I have a true love for heavy lifting!! I basically have done a combination of all of those things for the last couple years. I change it up every couple of months to keep things interesting and make further progress. Now, I am counting macros. It is the best thing I have done, by far. It started as a challenge with a girlfriend to eat 100g carbs/60g fats/150g protein each day for 30 days. I also added a lot of cardio with weights type exercises and HIIT training to my regime. It worked wonders. I continued past the 30 days and lost a total of 8lbs in 45 days. It toned me up fantastically as well. The first 20 days of eating by those macros just about killed me but I am so happy I did it and I continue to eat close to those macros today. I want to maintain the body I have now and maybe tone up a bit more.

Edit#2: Thank you all for the lovely, kind words! I am absolutely overwhelmed by the response! Thank you all so much! I hope I can inspire even just one person to believe in themselves and do what has always seemed to just be a dream. I wanted to answer some questions this morning, but I came online to find the post locked and I am unable to comment directly to people :(. So I'll answer a bit here. Yes I squat 225! I max out for squats at 235, bench at 140 and I can pull a 250 deadlift. :) I am super proud of those numbers! I absolutely have issues with excess skin and stretch marks. It is getting better everyday, and I credit the weightlifting for that. I did lose the weight suddenly at first, but the gradual toning up (thanks to weight lifting) over the last few years has helped to make the skin a little less saggy. I still have quite a bit of extra skin in the thigh area. Maybe one day it will look better than today, but I have gotten used to it.

You can find my previous 101 posts right here:

Biceps 101: An Anatomical Guide to Training

Triceps 101: An Anatomical Guide to Training

Deltoids 101: An Anatomical Guide to Training

Back 101: An Anatomical Guide to Training

ANATOMY

The chest can be split into two parts; the pectoralis major and minor.

Pec Major

• Originates/starts on the clavicle/collar bone and the sternum

• Inserts/attaches on the humerus/upper arm

Pec Minor

• Originates on ribs 1-5

• Inserts on scapula

FUNCTION

Pec Major

• Flexes the arm at the shoulder

• Medically rotates the arm at the shoulder

• Adducts the arm at the shoulder

Pec Minor

• Pulls your scapula forwards and downwards

TRAINING TIPS

There are two camps when it comes to chest training. One that claims that you can’t focus on specific parts of your chest (eg. Upper chest, lower chest, etc), while the other claims that you can. I am split between the two. You can't completely isolate the upper chest. When you do an incline bench press, your entire chest will be activated. But I believe that to build muscle, you have to consciously contract the muscle that you are working (known as the mind-muscle connection). Pumping out a bunch of reps on incline bench press might not target your upper chest the way you want it to. But if you perform the incline bench press in a controlled manner, and focus on really contracting/squeezing the top of your chest, you will see a difference. A trick that you can use to learn how to squeeze the muscle is to close your eyes during the set, and visualize exactly what you want your chest to do. Intent is needed to optimally stimulate growth.

BARBELLS OR DUMBBELLS?

Both barbells and dumbbells have their pros and cons. In general, I have found that barbells are superior for developing overall strength in your pressing, and dumbbells are superior for stimulating growth in your chest.

The reason why I prefer dumbbells for growth is because they allow you to go through a greater range of motion than barbells. With dumbbells, you can have your arms wide at the bottom of the movement to fully stretch your chest, and then have your hand close together at the top to fully contract your chest. With a barbell, you hands are in a fixed location during the entire movement. It’s much easier to consciously contract the muscle you’re intending to work with dumbbells, and they have actually been shown to reduce triceps involvement when compared to barbell pressing movements (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02640414.2010.543916#.VQhvpoHF9XY).

A great trick you can use to make dumbbell movements even more effective for your chest is to pronate your arms. The reason why I do this relates back to the anatomy of the pec major. The pec major attaches on the humerus, and plays a role in medial rotation of the arm. Pronating your arm is a great cue to initiate medial rotation of the upper arm. This allows the chest to be maximally contracted. This can be seen here. Notice at the bottom of the lift, the hands move in a supinating motion, and then at the top, the hands pronate. This allows you to stretch your pecs at the bottom of the movement, and then fully contract at the top.

Barbells are great for developing overall strength in your pressing muscles. When using a barbell, you are can lift more weight, and you are stimulating your triceps and deltoids to a high level, rather than just your chest. Both of these factors lead to an increase in strength.

A good chest routine for aesthetic/bodybuilding purposes will include both barbell and dumbbell work. I would recommend 3-4 movements for your chest, while including incline, flat, and decline work.

UPPER CHEST TRAINING

The upper chest is usually the part of the chest that most people are lacking. The easiest way to target this part of the chest is to train on an incline. Now, keep in mind that the larger the angle of the incline the more the deltoids will be brought into the movement. I find that the angle that allows to me to hit my upper chest in the best way is around 40 degrees. Once I start getting higher than that, I feel fatigue in my deltoids before I feel it in my chest.

• Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

• Inline Barbell Bench Press

• Incline Dumbbell/Cable Flys

Incline dumbbell press is one of my favourite chest exercises. Dumbbells really allow you to work through the full range of motion, and let you squeeze your chest at the top of each movement. A mistake that many people make while performing this exercise is hitting the dumbbells together at the top. This usually suggests that you’re not maintaining control over the weight during the entire movement. Instead, it is best to stop with about an inch between the dumbbells. This allows for a good contraction while maintaining control of the movement.

Incline barbell bench press is also a great movement, but I am not too fond of it personally. I find that it places a lot of stress on my shoulders/rotator cuff. Many coaches suggest that it is not necessary to touch the bar to your chest for this exercise. It is best to stop about an inch or two above your chest, because going lower can place unnecessary stress on your rotator cuff.

Flys are a great exercise. The same trick described under the dumbbell or barbell section with dumbbells can be applied to flys, whether they are on an incline, decline, flat bench, or a machine, This can be seen here.

MIDDLE CHEST TRAINING

This part of the chest is often associated with flat presses. But remember, to grow the middle of your chest, you cant just perform flat presses without thinking; focus on squeezing the middle of your chest while you press.

• Flat Dumbbell Bench Press

• Flat Barbell Bench Press

• Flat Dumbbell/Cable Flys

• Push Ups

• Chest Dips

Flat barbell bench press is a great exercise for chest development, and allows you to use heavier weights than you would with a dumbbell. But unlike the incline barbell bench press, you should touch your chest while you perform this movement. With proper form, going to your chest will not place too much stress on your shoulders. A common technique used by some lifters is bench pressing with a wide grip, and flaring their elbows out. Although this may be effective for chest development, I do not think that the risk it places your shoulders at is worth it. This puts your shoulders at a very high risk of injury, especially with heavier weights. Instead, I would recommend someone to bench press with their elbows slightly tucked in, like in the bottom of this image. Make sure you don’t tuck your elbows too far in, like in this image.

For the flat dumbbell bench press and flys, the same tips from upper chest apply.

Push-ups are great exercise for your chest, no matter what your experience is. For advanced lifters, they could be a great way to finish of your chest workout, or can go great in a super set with a lift such as flys. For a beginner, they are a great way to progress on to the bench press, and develop pressing strength before moving on to weights.

LOWER CHEST TRAINING

The lower chest is often the most neglected part of ones chest.

• Decline Dumbbell Bench Press

• Decline Barbell Bench Press

• Decline Dumbbell/Cable Flys

Dorian Yates has stated that he believes that the decline barbell bench press is the greatest chest movement for overall chest development. Some studies have even shown that the decline bench press causes the most activation in the chest when compared to other exercise. The decline bench press also places significantly less stress on your shoulders than the flat press would, and especially the incline bench press (the more of an incline you are at, the more shoulder involvement. The more of a decline you are at, the less shoulder involvement). Given all of this, I personally do not like the decline bench press because it feels awkward to me. But if you don’t mind it, I would 100% recommend for this to be a part of your routine.

TL;DR

• There is a dispute over whether you can isolate parts of the chest or not

• You can't work only the upper chest for example, but using an incline and consciously focusing on contracting the upper chest will really benefit you.

• Dumbbells are great for muscle growth and barbells for strength development.

• Incorporate both for an optimal routine

• A cool trick with dumbbells or cables you can use is to pronate your hands at the top of the movement

I'll give a brief TL;DR here,

Lost lots of weight, looked decent, went into a long coma and looked like a skeleton, then put lots of weight back on over this year.

Height: 6'4 193cm

2010-2013 (300lbish to 198lbs) http://i.imgur.com/8qBWXXI.jpg

March 2014 to today (9 months, 141lbs to 205lbs) http://i.imgur.com/bKISszX.jpg

Basically in 2010 I was 15, extremely fat (over 300lbs), and life sucked. I made big changes over the next two to three years which were spurred mainly by rugby and weightlifting, and as you all know learning to control my diet. I lost over 100lbs and gained a bit of muscle over a 2-3 year period, but most of the progress was made in the final year, between the ages of 17-18. Here are the results from the initial weightloss.

http://i.imgur.com/8qBWXXI.jpg

Unfortunately near the end of 2013, after finally reclaiming my body, I fell severely ill with pneumonia. On christmas day I was rushed to hospital after a large hole formed in my right lung. I was hopped onto morphine for two days, of which I remember nothing. I was put in an induced coma, and was in intensive care for 60 days, 30ish of which were in the coma. This time last year my mother was planning my funeral. It was very touch and go due to organ failure while on life support.

When I woke from the coma I was too weak to move my legs or raise my arms. For three months I didn't eat or drink. For two months I couldn't talk (due to having a tracheostomy with breathing support). It was hell incarnate, a true experience of suffering and pain. I was incredibly angry throughout the experience. Why the fuck did this happen? Why do I have to lose everything? One resounding thing which was constantly on my mind throughout was, "I'm going to murder the gym when I get out".

I had to gradually start walking again, getting motor skills back etc. When I got out of hospital simple things like putting on shoes and walking to the fridge exhausted me. I bought a 2kg weight and starting doing curls, but could only manage a few reps. I went to physical rehab regularly, but I bailed out halfway through and started my gym membership again. I did a four day split focusing on compound movements, and ate at a 500kcal surplus. I packed on strength and size, and put on 40kg over the course of this year. Over the last two months I have cut 10kg in order to lean down for summer. (achieving this with a simple 500kcal deficit).

My results are not perfect. i had a lot of issues this year, I shattered my hand at the peak of my bulk due to poor bone density following the coma. I didn't take time off the gym, I just got a strap to clip my cast to the cable machine and did a modified full body workout. I do not advocate this for anyone else, but I was willing to risk it. I also had really bad knee pain from the 4~ months of bedrest, which has made it very difficult to squat and do any running or walking based cardio.

I cant compare stats from hospital, as I couldn't move my arms so I'm assuming I was a lightweight. Here are my stats now

squat: 140kg 1rm deadlift: 150kg 1rm bench: 5 reps of 85 (I have never tested max) strict press: 60kg 1rm

I'm not sure if I've provided enough detail, so feel free to ask questions. I also apologize in advance for any formatting issues, this is my first post.

My message to you all: Before the coma, I was extremely fit. My lungs and body were strong, I had weight to waste away. If I had still been obese with a shitty diet I would be dead. If I hadn't taken cardio so seriously i would be dead. If my body hadn't been strong, I would be dead. The doctors said it was a miracle I survived, and if it really was that close, all those factors related to fitness would definitely have pushed me over that threshold which made me survive. The gym is some serious shit man.

She just sat the official world record, same weight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L-EeETELv4

Hey everybody,

I've been promising an AMA about fitness for the /r/fitness crowd for a while. I'm on a plane for an hour... so why don't I take a few questions?

Looking forward to starting in the next 15 minutes.

Twitter Proof: https://twitter.com/Schwarzenegger/status/320296360937140225

Update: Thanks guys, that was a lot of fun. I'm landing and losing my signal, but you know I'll be back. Don't be surprised if I stop by and answer a few more over the next few days.

-Arnold

The start of my make shift gym

A little background:

My parents and I got in a bit of an argument yesterday about fitness and going to the gym. I’ve been at the gym consistently for about 3 months and have made decent gains that I would like to keep.

Unlike me, my parents are not very health conscious at all, and even though they’re technically “obese” (on a BMI scale) they’ve ignored doctor’s warnings about their risk of developing adverse heart conditions. They’re actively against taking action about their health even though they read health articles everyday and feel educated on the topics.

On top of this: all of my aunts on my dad’s side are obese and have eating disorders. My mom’s side seems to be a bit better but not by much. My uncles on both sides are quickly becoming obese.

My sisters are younger than I am (I’m 18) and are quickly gaining weight (and it’s showing) because of their irresponsible eating habits. They consume junk non-stop and eat until they’re full every time they sit down to eat.

Overall, the cards aren’t really stacked in my favor.

Last night, (its been one day since I arrived home), we were eating at the dinner table and I brought up the idea of going to the gym or at least signing up. The nearest gym is a ways away and cost $45/mo. I do have the money, but it’s to be spent on books for the upcoming school year.

Asking about signing up was a mistake. A cascade of bogus health advice and assessments of my body ensued (they think I’m anorexic).

I was fuming for a bit after, but in the middle of the night I started trying to make some weight with some of the left over sand that we had in the garage.

^TL;DR^ Parents don’t like that I want to go to the gym so they won’t let me go. I made my own gym.

My routine looks like this.

Height: 5’7” Weight: 150lbs

^1st block - early morning^

• 3x15 bicep curls
• 3x15 barbell Curls
• 3x25 bench (with sand filled jugs)
• 3x15 squats (I just started working out legs)
• Misc Freeletics workout
• 50 push ups.

(Repeat for second evening block - w/o Freeletics)

^Cardio:^

• 1.4 mile run, I try to do this in less than 10:00 with a mile pace of less than 7:00.
• 200 fast paced jumping jacks

^Macros:^ 1650 calories (huge “flash cut” in preparation for bulk this winter) TDEE: 2155 (including cardio) about 2000 without it.

Average over last 7 days 132g protein 179g carbs 55g fat

Trying to up my protein to about 160g ish as I cut down to 1550 calories next week.

It’s a shit ton of work, but it’s sure as hell worth it.

EDIT: WOW, expected a positive response from this sub but not an overwhelming one! Thanks for the compliments and advice. But to answer some FAQs:

1. I’m 18.
2. I don’t own a bike.
3. Nearest Gym is 7 miles away (damn rural Texas)
4. I’m trying to live as an example for my parents.
5. I will be staying with them for 2 weeks.
6. I do attend college and am a programmer.

EDIT 2: Thanks again for all the great comments, taking the time to read through all of them while I workout.

Added an extra jug for shrugs and Romanian deadlift.

TLDR: Progress summary.

Hi /r/fitness I have been posting every once and awhile in physique phriday threads as well as in /r/progresspics but I never got to create a dedicated thread here on fitit to expand and document my weight-loss journey and my body transformation.

A bit of background, I celebrated last week my 27th birthday, And for ~16 years outta those I've been struggling with my body. I was 10 when I was first called fat in school and ever since that day I've been the fattest kid in the class. I sweat a lot and being born and raised in Tunisia didn't help with the high temperatures around the year. So yea basically every day in school was a shamefest. Which only worsened the issue because it made me get to hate going out and hence a vicious cycle of eating and staying home playing video-games/watching movies kicked in.

Although I always had in me a strong urge, a want to practice physical activity. I wanted to run, play soccer and whatever but my body always hindered me. At some point I gave up dieting and such because I was convinced something is definitely wrong with me.

A few years ago, I moved to Paris, France for professional reasons. I got a gym membership. I used it for a couple of months and that was that. Fast forward to August 2016, I was walking home with a friend of mine and we agreed to get our shit together and start working out consistently. Mind you at some point before this conversation I weighed around 120+kg for 167cm (264lbs for 5'5"). I was convinced I had to do something and a lot of factors that I won't bore you with played in making me just get my game on.

This is me on December 2015
This is me in May 2016, approximate weight 100kg (?).

August 2016, started at 98kg, August 31st I weighed 90kg. Cycling in the gym and doing whatever I can to eat less (must've been eating around 1400 calories/day but I didn't know about MFP back then). I wanted so bad to run on treadmill but I couldn't because of shin splints. For the life of me I wouldn't be able to run past the 1km marker without feeling intense pain in my forelegs.

September 2016-February 2017: Continued to shed weight fast, 4kg/month on average. All by doing intense, long cardio sessions (Some sessions were 1600 calories worth) and watching my food. At that point I had joined MyFitnessPal and started to try get my calorie count right. February 7th 2017 , I weighed 74.5kg my scale estimates my BF to be around 20% which is highly inaccurate imo. This period though was a huge success for me. I had successfully ran 15km for the first time ever in 85ish minutes. And got my 10k to 49 minutes. This period of time was cardio only almost, I just wanted to become a runner like I always wished I could be.

March 2017: Started at 70.5kg still shedding weight fast, my scale estimates my BF ~17-18%. I wore a size S shirt for the first time of my life. And still looked nothing like I hoped I'd look like. I was still counting calories at a deficit and a steep one too. But at this point I was already proud of what I have achieved, and I started to believe my body transformation is actually possible :D

May 2017: This was a major turning point. I ditched my old workout regime that made no sense. And browsed the wiki here for a program I can run that can actually help me recomp. And stumbled upon the PHUL program. I never touched a dumbbell before in my life. Going to the free weight area in my gym alone was a MAJOR step. At this point I weighed 65kg.
I already had visible abs. Scale BF estimate was around 15%. I hit the gym 5 days a week, 4 days during the working week around 6AM because basically I was a noob and didn't wanna shame myself during rush hour lol. I benched, squatted and deadlifted and it never felt any better.

September 2017: End of my cut September 18th at 64kg and 13% BF, at this point I was feeling too weak in the gym. Struggling to keep my numbers and failing most of the time. I started to hate the experience of squatting or benching. I was not happy with the result I have hoped to remove some more fat, but you gotta listen to your body. At this point I was really frustrated but recomp is one hell of a challenge, the loose skin effect is doubled with a layer of fat that wouldn't leave the belt area. But I was reasonable enough to retreat and fight another day. After this I maintained for 2 weeks, and 2 weeks ago I started a lean bulk phase. Planning to make it a short one then go back to cutting alternating for 2 weeks.
I am still experimenting with both programming and diet plans, starting to feel the need for coaching but I made it so far on my own I might as well just keep at it and have fun doing it.

So there you go guys, I tried to keep it as short as possible if you have any questions just hit me up i'm more than glad to answer.
And last this MFP account my diary is public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/profile/yondaime8 feel free to add me.

Progress pics here

M/26/6'

I started at around 200 lbs in the first pic, 175 lbs in the second, and 172 in the third. The first and second pictures are roughly 6 months apart, and the last two pictures are about a month and a half apart.

In the first picture, I was entirely focused on strength gains and putting up bigger numbers in the bench, squat and deadlift. After ballooning up too much, I decided it was time to lose some weight.

Diet

I decided that I would try a ketogenic style diet for my cut. I say "style" because I didn't really care much about being "in ketosis" - I quickly discovered that simply by eating fat and avoiding carbs I was much more satiated and able to stay out of the kitchen and snacking throughout the day. I also kept my protein intake at 1g per lb of bodyweight, which according to the keto bible will knock you out of ketosis. The protein intake didn't seem to affect me too greatly.

I ate 3 meals per day, and tried my best to stick to the eating hours of 12pm-6pm, though this didn't always happen.

As this was a low carb diet, I ate plenty of fatty foods. Breakfast would be something like this:

3 eggs

4 slices of bacon

1 oz cheddar

Avocado

Lunch:

8 oz ground beef

1 oz cheese

Serving of veggies

Dinner was similar to lunch.

For snacks, I drank protein shakes to fill in my protein requirements and ate quest bars for the fiber and protein as well. Occasionally I would have some full fat Greek yogurt (Fage brand is relatively low in carbs) or whole milk (Fairlife Milk is relatively low in carbs).

This all added up to somewhere between 1900-2100 calories daily.

Exercise

During this whole cut I followed nsuns 531 5-day variation.

Despite losing weight, I did gain some decent strength in the deadlift and squat using this program, though my bench/OHP didn't increase quite as much. My numbers went from:

Squat: 340 lbs > 370 lbs

Bench: 230 lbs > 240 lbs

Deadlift: 385 lbs > 440 lbs

OHP: 145 lbs > 155 lbs

For the first 6 months (from first to second pic) I did absolutely no cardio. For the past month and a half, in hopes of losing the final 5 lbs to get to 170, I've been incorporating 3-4 days of steady state cardio for ~20 minute sessions. On off days I will also do some kind of circuit training with light weights.

Conclusions

Overall, I really enjoyed the keto style diet, although I acknowledge the most important factor is achieving a caloric deficit. For my eating preferences, I was able to achieve a sustainable deficit by eating fatty foods and feeling satiated, and that's enough for me. I don't believe keto is "magical" or superior to a traditional style diet, but it certainly worked well for me. If you're curious about the diet, check out /r/keto and /r/ketogains - they were great resources for me along the way.

TL;DR: Keto style diet + powerlifting style training = better physique

Thanks for reading!

Edit: I guess it is also important that I mention in the first picture, I had been training consistently for over a year, and I had a decent strength base. My muscle gains did not all come in the last 7 months. I don't wish to be misleading.

Edit 2: Apparently the nsuns link isn't working for some so here's a link to the spreadsheet.

Edit 3: Alright since I'm getting a lot of questions, let me give you guys some important info regarding my abs. No, I do not train abs directly, but that does not mean that you can necessarily get abs without training them directly. Ever since I was 12 years old, I was obsessed with the idea of a 6 pack, and would do ab exercises almost every day throughout my teen years. I had a horrible physique, but was convinced getting a six pack was the answer - it wasn't. Even when I was skinny fat, I had some abs under there (this pic is about 4 years old). I don't train abs because I had already developed them as a teen, and heavy compound lifting is enough to maintain them. Going on a huge cut and losing 30 lbs is not going to give you abs if you don't already have them!

I weighed 475 lbs when I was 18 and lost over 250 lbs by the time I was 21. Since I have gained about 20 lbs back, (now 27) but I am very comfortable at this weight for playing hockey and running regularly.

I have had brachioplasty to remove excess skin from my arms but have yet to remove extra skin from other areas. Weight loss is difficult and many people don't realize the constant struggles you face even after you have lost the weight. There is not only the physical tolls and side effects from being drastically overweight but also long lasting mental effects that are also very difficult to overcome.

I would love to help anybody here that I can. Ask me literally anything and I'll be an open book no limits.

Proof http://i.imgur.com/OwBaeJl.jpg

EDIT* Wow guys, thanks for all the love! A lot of questions are being repeated. Please make sure to read some of the other questions I have responded to. I am at work and trying to do this and work at the same time. Sorry if I don't get to your question. It may have already been answered!

EDIT** Seriously guys thanks for all of the kind words. I really appreciate it. I thought I would get a lot of poor responses from some people. This makes me very happy. I hope I am helping some of you to gain motivation in accomplishing your goals whatever they may be. I really think "Dedication determines your success" in all aspects of life.

PS yes that is a weezer bracelet I am wearing in the after pic. Since losing weight I have picked up the guitar and play a lot of weezer haha. They are by far my favorite band! =w=