I think all the extra energy from food has me not needing much sleep to crush it every day

So, the short version is I take a medication that is rendered ineffective when ingesting (even small) amounts of citric acid, which unfortunately is in quite a lot of things including every preworkout drink I have ever purchased. So far I've had no luck in finding anything new, so I'm hoping someone here may know of one.

Hey everyone,

First time I'm making a concerted effort to bulk, before I continue I'll say my main form of fitness is CrossFit but I'm very much cherry picking the workouts atm to focus on the more heavy lifting and barbell type stuff, as well as doing accessory lifting throughout the week hottong all muscle groups with typical bodybuilding work.

I've been weighing myself everyday to make sure things are moving in the right direction and overall it is but should my weight vary this much day to day?

BW

21/10/24: 76.5kg

22/10/24: 76.6kg

23/10/24: 78kg

24/10/24: 78kg

25/10/24 : 76.4kg

26/10/24: 77kg

27/10/24: 78.2kg (post breakfast)

28/10/2024: 79.3kg

29/10/2024: 78.6kg

30/10/2024: 78.4kg

31/10/2024: 77.5kg

As you can see it moving in the right direction but a few days ago I was close to 80kg and now back down to 77.5kg.

I weigh myself same time of day etc, calories are around 3100-3200 everyday, sometimes more but I always make sure I'm over 3k.

I went through a 3 1/2 months surplus and gained about 7 lb and out of those 7 lb None was muscle. I know this for 2 reasons, the obvious one because I see it now that I cut (short easy cut- did not loose the muscle here). And 2. Because I got a body scan avery couple of weeks all throughout ny bulk and saw a steady trend of fat going up while muscle stayed the same. Why did I not build any muscle in my bulk. -I was progressive overloading: tracking my workouts sticking to one program and always progressing my lifts with either sets or reps. Taking my lifts close or even to failure at times. • something I could have done better is slowing down the eccentric. Which ai will focus on controlling the reps more now. - I was sleeping a good quality 7-8 hours of sleep -Tracking my macros and had my diet on point. (Always hit my protein, never ate out, controlled surplus) water intake good etc. • I was doing a PPL split variation SO Legs, push, legs, pull, legs. Never felt under recovered (may have been dont know). Now that I have cut those 7 lb I put on I see that it was all for nothing since I built literal no muscle and based on my scans I may have even lost a little bit. Did I just waste 4 months to go up and fat and then cut it? Why didn't I build any muscle??? I understand there is a few things I could've done better such as controlling my reps. Focusing on mechanical tension, but this can not be the sole reason I legit built O muscle. I am starting another surplus in a couple of weeks and I want to make sure it is a successful one and I want to undersi what I did wrong since it was my first really dedicated bulk and I thought I really locked in.

Stats

I've been reading a little bit about RPT since i've been searching for a way to really supercharge my fat loss and am curious what anyone thinks about my current plan and if the RPT approach would be a good plan for me...

• 5ft11" male 42 yrs old
• Started out at 252lbs June 2024
• Starting body fat 37%
• Started taking tirzepatide June 2024
• Started taking testosterone replacement June 2024 since my levels were pretty low - like around 110. Recent tests shows i'm back up to about 700
• Current weight 215lbs, current body fat 28%
• Have been stuck at 213-215lbs for the past 4 weeks, can't seem to lose more.
• I weight train 3 days on, 1 day off, 3 days on, 1 day off. Most of my exercises I try to do high weight and low reps to where I fail on the last rep of the last set. I use the same weight for eat set (which i know per RPT is different)
  • Day 1 PUSH - flat smith bench press, incline dumbbell bench press, single arm cable side lateral raises, seated smith machine military press, tricep pushdowns, close grip smith machine bench press
  • Day 2: PULL - rack pulls, single arm dumbbell rows, bent over barbell rows, reverse pec deck flyes, preacher curls, alternating dumbbell hammer curls, dumbbell shrugs
  • Day 3: LOWER BODY/core - leg extensions, smith machine back squat, leg press, lying leg curl, seated calf raises, weighted ab crunch machine
  • Day 4 - rest
  • Day 5 Push - a different set of exercises than above
  • Day 6 - pull - a different set of exercises than above
  • Day 7 - lower body - a different set of exercises than above
  • Day 8 - rest
• I try to eat around 200g of protein, less than 100g of carbs, about 70g of fat and around 2000 calories.
• My diet has been ok for the most part. I do have the occasional day or two where I might eat a slice of pizza or something I normally don't eat - but I never binge eat like a box of donuts or bag of burgers.

I seem to have reached a weight loss stall to some degree. I know i'm putting on muscle as i'm stronger in the gym and my arms are getting bigger, but i'm not seeing my weight come down at all. I figured i should still be losing at least 1lb per week. Either way, my interest is losing body fat - not necessarily weight on a scale.

A few questions..

• Will adding an IF day help kickstart weight loss again? I've done a 24 hr fast before once and it seemed to get me back into weight loss mode, but not sure if that was a fluke or my body was just losing muscle instead.
• I will for sure read the lean gains site and recommended books, but for feedback on if this program has worked for others in a similar situation looking to maximize fat loss.
• Does having too much of a calorie deficit hurt weight loss efforts? If I'm supposed to target 2000 calories per day but only consume 1000 what could that potentially do to my body? Will it slow down metabolism or something that will slow down weight loss?
• What are the overall thoughts on eating meat vs fish vs chicken etc? The one thing i really like are these jones organic chicken sausages from costco. They have a lot of protein and are minimally processed. They don't have any msg, nitrites/nitrates, hormones, etc. I rely a lot on chicken and not so much red meat, but i'm wondering if i should have a diet that is a mix of red meat, chicken and fish.

21 M / 6’ / 175 lb (Newbie)

Any recommendations for workouts or meal planning/prepping would be great

Need help with workout plan. I was thinking pretty much upper body and then lower body the two days and then maybe if I do a third day adding in some “accessory” work outs. My only issue is I don’t know what those specific work outs would or should be.

I am not looking to be insanely low body fat but I would like to maintain body fat while gaining muscle (losing body fat would not be a problem either)

Recently lost about 20 pounds semi-accidentally, I am looking to go to the gym at least 2 times a week per week maybe a 3rd day.

I plan on switching my diet over to almost strictly beef, chicken, raw vegetables, and half cup of rice per day.

I am wanting a plan for working out but I am lost. I have never been a gym person at all.

In the book Martin touts the seal row as being a super-effective back exercise. Done on a normal bench I get little to non ROM. My arms are above average in length. Most benches also have stuff "under there" that tens to be in the bar path. So is there some special bench or other equipment that helps make the seal row a good exercise for larger individuals?

Just finished reading Martin's book and i made a routine based on the RPT. Very similar to the one in the book but with a few adjustments:

Monday • Deadlift - 3 x 6 • Barbell row - 3 x 8 • Weighted dips- 3 x 6

Wednesday • Bench press - 3 x 8 • Overhead press - 3 × 8 • Dumbbell lateral raises - 3 x 10 • Pinwheel curls- 3 x 10

Friday • Squat - 3 × 10 • Weighted Chin-Up - 3 × 8 • Hip thrust - 3 x 6 • Hanging leg raises - 3 × 10

Is the volume okay? Any exercises i should add? Thanks!

M19. 170 lbs Been working out for 2 years. Over the 2 years I’ve lost a lot of weight (around 50 lbs) and went from 30% body fat to around 15. I’ve been trying for the last few months to get down to 10% but nothings working. I do cardio and im in a calorie deficit but it’s like even though I lose weight there’s no change. At first I was losing weight and dropping the fat quickly, but everything’s slowed down and the fat has become very stubborn, despite me maintaining the same habits I had before. I’m honestly so lost right now and I don’t know what to do, like I just wanna get abs. I’m thinking about lowering my calories even more. What should I do ?

https://imgur.com/a/CIufUfB

I think i may be suffering from fuckarounditis and just need somebody to tell me which of these 3 day splits are better, or if they are any good at all.

Workout 1

Day 1

Pushups (3 sets)

Bench press (3 sets)

Rows (3 sets)

Dips (3 sets)

Rear delt flyes (3 sets)

Day 2

Barbell squats (3 sets)

Romanian deadlifts (3 sets)

Calf raises (3 sets)

Neck curls (3 sets)

Hanging leg raises (3 sets)

Day 3

Pushups (3 sets)

Overhead press (3 sets)

Pullups/Chinups (3 sets)

Dumbbell curls (3 sets)

Lateral raises (3 sets)

Workout 2

Day 1

Incline bench (3 sets)

Barbell bench (3 sets)

Dumbbell curls (3 sets)

Tricep pushdown (3 sets)

Lateral raises (3 sets)

Cable crunches (3 sets)

Day 2

Leg press (3 sets)

Leg extension (3 sets)

Hamstring curl (3 sets)

Calf raises (3 sets)

Dips (3 sets)

Lateral raises (3 sets)

Rear delt fly (3 sets)

Day 3

Overhead shoulder press (3 sets)

Pullups (3 sets)

Chinups (3 sets)

Dumbbell hammer curls (3 sets)

Pushups (3 sets)

Lateral raises (3 sets)

Rear delt fly (3 sets)

Hanging leg raises (3 sets)

Im worried that the first might be under training and the second might be overtraining. Im so confused. In short, here are my questions.

Are these viable workouts?

Which one is superior?

Is the first one under training?

Is the second one over training?

Sorry if i havent made things clear.

Hi! I'm an 18 year old female and I just started my journey into body recomposition. There's a couple of questions that I had about it that I couldn't find clear answers to and I was hoping for some advice! To preface, I am 5'5" and at a healthy weight so I am looking to maintain and not lose or gain at all. I also changed my diet a couple days ago to eat 1g of protein per pound of body weight and to eat as many whole foods as possible. Also, I read the FAQ but I couldn't quite understand some of it so sorry if some of these are answered in it! 1: Will using machines instead of lifting with regular weights make the process of building muscle slower? They are much less intimidating as a beginner but I want to make sure I'm still going to make progress. 2: If I workout five days a week, how should I split that up between leg days and arm days? 3: What is the best way to avoid bulky arms? Everyone seems very divided on this. I see people say to lift as heavy as possible, lift light, don't do arm days at all, or replace it with pilates with weights. I have no idea which path to go! 4: Last question! Will it build more muscle to make the weights as heavy as I can, even if I can only do 2 or 3 reps, or should I lower the weight to something where I can do around 8 or 10 reps? Sorry if these questions are asked all the time. Thanks for reading and I hope this makes sense! I just started my journey and I don't really know what I'm talking about.

22m 5’7 155lbs. I have some muscle tone but hold some fat too. I started going to the gym in July doing PPL & heavily focused on progressive overload. I’ve gotten a lot stronger over the last 3 months.

Will I see muscle gain if I’m focused on a high protein diet (150-185g/day) not really focused on calories. If anything I’m typically in a low deficit on accident.

I’ve been reading that the most a person can gain in terms of muscle per month is 1KG or 2LBS.

Doing a little math, 275 calorie surplus a day is 1925 calories a week and 7700 calories a month which exactly equals 1 KG.

Is this the ideal amount of calorie surplus? I’m planning on a lean bulk soon, just trying to find the perfect surplus amount to gain muscle with minimal fat.

I need a little more protein to hit my goal, just wondering any recommendations for a daily protein snack to add into my day that's at least 10g of protein!

EDIT - Appreciate all the responses! Ended up grabbing 0% Fat Fage Greek Yoghurt!

Been working out for 1.5 months now dropped from 171 to 152

Im 21 5’7

Calorie intake is 1,300 a day which is about 1,000 calories less than what i should have for maintenance

So far its made me lose weight and fat extremely fast i only eat plain chicken plain rice and plain broccoli everyday once a day

This is mentally strenuous and im dying to find out how to properly go about looking leaner and more muscularly toned

Aspiring for a ryan reynolds physique, currently id say my lower abs are there and v line is comming but not nearly enough

Muscles appear small to me as well but its not insane just decent

How can i eat more and how much do i cut my calories down to lose fat but gain muscle???

I've been in the gym for a year now using RPT and have been happy with the results.

For my chest workout I always start with incline dumbell and stay away from Smith machine because I just dont like the feel.of it. So my question is I've hit the max dumbells of 75lbs and im repping those 12 times. Should I be as many as possible on my first set and see how many reps I can achieve over time? Just seems like I should ne going up in weight but I just can't because planet fitness. How should I approach?

So I’ve always been skinny throughout high school I weighed 90lbs. I’m a 5’3, 21 yr old female for reference. I wasn’t underweight..I was actually pretty toned and worked out because I had marching band practice and we did a lot of exercise.

Well college came around..and I got the freshman 15. I went from 104lbs after Covid to 123 at my highest. But even at 123 I wasn’t exactly fat and people would say I still looked skinny. But I have stubborn fat in my belly and in my thighs. With clothes on I look slim but with clothes off I can’t help but see the fat on my body despite me losing the weight gain in number..the fat stayed. I’m 106 lbs now. I’m not starving myself, I just lose weight easily. I would love to go to a public gym but my social anxiety stops me. I would do little workouts at home but that only works so much…you can’t build a lean toned body without actually lifting. Plus my back muscles are weak from my terrible posture through the years. Any advice on building courage to go to the gym?

Got a body comp scan done I was at 38% percent bf lost 15-20 lbs. And have been weight lifting as well weight loss has slowed done but definitely seem more toned. Can I determine body fat by comparing with pictures and charts vs my own or is another scan necessary

So the main LG cycling is +20/-20 along with intermittent fasting to stay lean year around but I see calorie cycling for a lean cut which is -10/-30 and for lean bulk +30/+10. Where do bulking and cutting come into leangains and which one should I do?

I'm (M20) at around 17-18% bf skinny fat with some belly fat too. I have lifting experience but I guess I'd be considered a beginner (long hiatus + sever fuckarounditis and diet issues) I see recommendations on the main site and in the wiki of this sub to cut down to 10-11% bf first before lean bulking. So I wanted to ask if thats the right choice and when exactly should I start following the +20/-20 cycling protocol?

Hey everyone,

I’m a five foot one, thirty four year old male. I weight 135 pounds and would like to get to 125 pounds. I lift weights 3 days a week and average 10000 steps a day. I keep hovering between 134-136. I did weigh 131 once but it went back up.

I’m eating up to 1400 calories and hit around 200 grams of protein.

This plateau has being going on 3 weeks now.

It’s the most demoralized I’ve been in a long time.

Any tips or tricks would be appreciated.

Any calorie deficit recommendation would be helpful.

Thanks!

As all credit goes to Martin i reader this on his book and took all info he provided and I Have Been Bulking for 1 month now eating 3600 calories on training days and 2400 Cals on my rest days to avoid any fat gain TDEE IS around 2500

as Martin said i completely Off on my cardio cause i am bulking but i am gaining Fat on my belly and i been thinking wouldn't it be helpful if i start implementing cardio again on training or rest days i just don't know when i should do cardio if i should

also wont cardio cause muscle loss if i do it on my rest days ? cause the calories intake is low

Would be helpful if i get opinion of all of you guys :}

I have been eating a lot of chicken thighs lately and have been using MacroFactor as my logging app, I use "Chicken Thigh Meat Only Raw" as my entry which is very similar to what the USDA has on their website for boneless skinless chicken thighs. I have been shocked by how similar the calories are to chicken breasts.

100g of "Chicken Breast Boneless Skinless Raw" adds up to 108 Calories and 20g Protein

meanwhile, 100g of "Chicken Thigh Meat Only Raw" adds up to 121 Calories and 19.7g Protein

Is this correct? If so, what is the purpose of eating chicken breasts over chicken thighs if the macros are so similar while also being cheaper and better tasting?

If this is true, I find it very easy to hit my daily 200g+ protein goal with chicken thighs while still being at a deficit at the end of the day.

Lean gains says you should be able to manage no less than goal - 1 reps. So far this week I have not managed to do so despite reaching the goal last week.

Last week deadlift I hit 6x240 for my first set and bench 8x130. This week I only managed 3x245 and 4x135 for the first sets.

Should I go back to 240 and 130 next week since I couldn’t hit goal - 1 or keep the weight the same?

I'm a 6'0 187 LBS 19 yo old male who's been lifting for over two years.

Recently I've been doing my first proper cut, I've been eating about 1800 calories a day, I came to this number because in the last I was able to maintain effectively at about 2300 calories per day.

However, although my weight has been slowly going down, it hasn't been at a rate I'm satisfied with.

I often oveareat to 2300 calories at least once a week, and over 2300 to 2.5 or 3k calories every weekend or so.

No matter what I do I can't seem to curb this.

I am wondering if bumping my calories up to 2k would help mitigate this, if is stuck to it every single day.

Have you guys done similar things before? What has worked for you?

favorite meals and/or supplements recs please. I’m have a hard time hitting both.

I have stalled o squats for two weeks but my bench continues to go up. If I add calories to push through the plateau of squat, will that mean possible fat gain in my chest area seeing as how the strength/muscle has not been maxed out yet?

My programming suggests this is a bodyweight issue as I have stagnated on bodyweight as well. Thank you!

I want to hit my protein goal of 200 grams while in a deficit, so I track everything.

But i read recently that chicken (not sure about read meat) are fewer calories and fewer protein after it’s been cooked. Is this true?

For example, the chicken I buy is 110 calories per 4 oz for 23 grams of protein? So, after it’s cooked it’s fewer calories and even fewer grams of protein?

If so, how do you track your meals to ensure you really hit your protein goals while still being in a deficit? Before or after it’s cooked?

Thanks!

Let me clarify that by dehydrated, I don’t mean the kind of dehydrated actors do to be more vascular. When I workout, I drink water in between some exercises. After the workout is finished, I drink a lot of water, and I need to know if I should record my physique update before I drink a lot of water. I plan on recording my physique update right after I workout. Do you think my physique will look the same for the video regardless of whether or not I drink a lot of water after the workout?

The reason I’m asking this is because I tend to workout at night, and I’ve noticed that after I drink water after the workout, I look a bit fuller than how I usually do during the day. It’s my stomach that specifically looks fuller. Maybe that’s because nighttime is when I’ve already eaten all of my meals and as a result, the stomach is a bit fuller? I’m not sure.