Does anyone else find that they can go full on 100% for maybe 6 months, and then suddenly their motivation just drops off?

This has been a recurring pattern throughout my whole lifting career & I’ve got like half the gains (rightly so).

I just don’t know how people stay motivated year-round! Is it just fatigue catching up? (I’m in a surplus and sleep well?)

I've been lifting for about a year and a half and have made great muscle progress. Now I'm at a point where I can't increase weight or muscle, I think I am at a plateau because I physically can't take in enough food!!! I get so nauseated/sick trying to force feed to meet my macros that I end up loosing it all.

Any help would be appreciated!

If you have go to meal prep plans etc put them below please :)

5'5" 130lb F

I've always programmed the major compound movements at the beginning of my workouts; however, my arms have become a pretty clear weak point in my physique. It seems I'm torso dominant and my chest and back tend to take over everything. Because of these lagging arms, I just started throwing my arm isolation stuff for biceps and triceps at the beginning of my workouts so that they get the most attention possible, which is certainly negatively impacting how much weight I can move on the compounds at the end of the routines. Have any of y'all experimented with this? Is this a decent approach to improve lagging body parts or do you have a better recommendation?

Hi everyone,

I need some guidance on how to deal with a wrist injury as a result of a motorcycle accident that I was involved in last September (woman decided to overtake a slow-moving car on a blind corner and found me...). The accident resulted in an injury to my left wrist (with similar but much less pain in my right wrist). I couldn't move my left wrist for like 5-7 days. I did a scan the same night of accident on my left wrist to check for any fracture but there was none.

I began physiotherapy sessions about 3-4 weeks after the accident and did exercises for around 6 weeks without any improvement. In November/December, I had an ultrasound followed by an MRI, which revealed a TFCC injury (including a small tear).

I consulted an orthopedic surgeon who noted that my wrist mobility was good, but that I experienced pain with certain movements, especially when supinating my wrist. He administered an 80mg Depo-Medrol steroid injection in December/January, which provided immediate relief, it was incredible, was not expecting such good effect. The effect lasted about 5 months.

After that initial consultation, I sought a second opinion from another orthopedic surgeon as he goes to the gym and I thought he could better advise me on what to do, exercise alternatives, etc. He informed me that such injuries can take a year or more to fully heal and advised against exercises that might irritate the area or cause pain, particularly those involving wrist twisting. He also recommended avoiding rehabilitative exercises for the wrist, like using a theraband or light dumbbells, for now. I started to use wrist straps in the last 4 months.

However, the effect of the steroid injection has worn off over the past 1-2 months, and I'm experiencing the same pain as I did 1 month after the accident. While I can still perform most activities without pain, I have to be careful with every movement I do with my wrist to avoid pain. Most I feel pain is when supinating my wrist and than bending it backwards. But even basic, random wrist movements can be painful. It's strange to explain. I also feel my left wrist to be weaker when compared to my right wrist, which doesn't help I think.

The current orthopedic surgeon has suggested a PRP (platelet-rich plasma) injection during my next visit. Has anyone been in a similar situation or had experience with PRP for this type of injury? I'm unsure if I should proceed with the PRP or if I should avoid completely exercises that use my wrist for the time being, even if I don't feel pain when I'm doing them (like shoulder press, chest press, etc.). I do feel slight pain when grabbing a heavy dumbbell and I hold it on my side and then put it in position (like shoulder press).

Any feedback or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hey, I wondered if you could critique my routine. I’ve been lifting for exactly a year now, I had some prior training experiences though (stopped last time due to COVID). I started with the classic novice programs, went over to GZCLP, didn't enjoy it, so I built my own program (I know, I know..). I currently run a full body workout with at least 1 rest day between training days. On average, I’m at the gym 3  times a week (not counting the irregular cardio sessions on rest days).

I currently have some non-lifting related lower back problems, which is why I replaced squats with hack squats for the moment, but I’ll add them in back again whenever I can. I also want to get good at pull-ups, which is why I do them, even though I can’t stay >=5 reps in every set. I added an assisted set to increase the reps. My chest feels like my weakest body part, which is why I moved chest exercises further up the order.

I have 4 different training days that I go through one after another:

T1: hack squats (3 sets), incline db press (3 sets), pull-ups (3 AMRAP sets + 1 assisted), cable lateral raises (3 sets), facepulls (2 sets), leg abduction (2 sets)

T2: chest press machine (3 sets), RDLs (3 sets), chest supported machine row (3 sets), leg extension (2 sets), cable triceps overhead extension (2 sets) supersetted with behind the back cable curls (2 sets)

T3: incline db press (3 sets), incline db fly (2 sets), hack squats (3 sets), pull-ups (3 AMRAP sets + 1 assisted), cable lateral raises (3 sets)

T4: Leg curls (3 sets), chest supported machine row (3 sets), Bulgarian split squats (2 sets per leg), preacher curls (2 sets), assisted dips (2 sets), glute-ham raises (2 sets)

Is something missing, is something wrong? I feel like my upper back isn’t getting a lot of work, maybe I should replace one of my chest supported rows with a variation where I can get my elbows further up.

I only hit hamstrings twice in these 4 days, which isn’t a lot, but I just get DOMS every single time if I do more than that and I’m OK with my progress.

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

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

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

I'm 6'2"M and started training at 28. I weighed in at 140lb and 10%bf. I was severely underweight, unhealthy & weak and over the next five years of pretty consistent training (albeit in that tine i jumped around a lot between programs and training methods figuring out how I wanted to train.) I slowly learned more about hypertrophy training and splits and how to properly cut and bulk, etc etc. When covid hit at 33 I was weighing in at 175lb 12% bf. I wasn't exactly where I wanted to be after 5 years of training but felt good in my body for the first time and was excited to keep progressing. Well covid knocked me off my ass and I really fell out of all my routines. I kept training here and there but with no consistency. My diet completely fell apart, I lost a lot of strength and muscle and ballooned to 190lb and 18% bf. The heaviest Ive ever been in my life. Over the last several months I've cut down to 165 at 13.5% bf and for the first time since pre covid have been consistently back in the gym for a few months.

And now at 37 I feel ready to commit to a weekly PPL split and have been really enjoying it for the last few weeks. I'm still on a cut--i wanna get down to about 11 or 12% bf before I start bulking again--so I'm just trying to dial in this PPL and PO when I can, and relearn how to target the muscle group that I'm training. I pulled this Athlean X PPL and made some adjustments here and there with movements I prefer but would love some feedback on how this PPL looks. Any exercise you see where I'm using a barbell, the number you see just refers to the plates I'm loading on each side, so that lift would be double that number + the 45lb bar. Just easier to track in my spreadsheet this way.

Though I feel more like an intermediate lifter in experience and knowledge, I feel like my body has reverted back to a beginner level. Should I expect newbie gains again when I start bulking? I'm also 10 years older than I was when I first started.

*I'm open to any and all feedback on this*

thanks boys and girl

edit** deleted the actual lift numbers because it's irrelevant to my actual question and some alphas were getting off topic.

https://preview.redd.it/7ess68ugnned1.jpg?width=1275&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=432dae5a44693b7da79e97c43ec8fe5fc7698f9b

I see people talking about how they have sub-40 minute sessions and use like 45 second rest times.

If pump doesn't matter for hypertrophy, I can't think of a good reason why long rest times wouldn't be superior, since you can maximize load on every set for a given amount of fatigue.

IIRC I think I saw a YouTube comparing studies on this and it said 3 minutes were better than 1 or 5, but untrained individuals are not lifting heavy weights. They have not activated their CNS to the same degree as someone who is experienced, so it seems like common sense that a beginner wouldn't need 5 minutes rest.

I do 4-5 minute rests (3 on super isolation stuff that recovers quicker) and let my heart rate go back to placid between sets and it seems like I can go pretty much infinitely, and every set is very intense, even after 3 hours. I think I could do a 5 hour session like this and be fine as far as gas. Growth + progression has been very good.

Is there some known physiological drawback to long rest times?

For now my goal is to build a wide and thicker back but I'm struggling while training to failure because my forearms always give up first, it's the same even when I'm using straps.

I thought I'd add an additional arms day in my split to really focus on my forearms but I'm not sure if I should just train my back twice a week instead of adding a second arm day (I already have one).

This is my current 4 days split for context:

Day 1: Chest, Abs & Shoulders Day 2: Upper & Lower Back Day 3: Rest Day 4: Arms (biceps, triceps, forearms) Day 5: Legs Day 6: Rest Day 7: Repeat

At the moment, training back twice a week seems more logical to me since its closer to my goal but I'm not sure if my forearms will be able to adapt with even more workload.

Also, my new back focused 5 days split:

Day 1: Upper & Lower Back + Calves Day 2: Chest, Abs & Shoulders Day 3: Rest Day 4: Legs (minus calves, so that I have room for quads or hamstring dominant days) Day 5: Upper & Lower Back + Calves Day 6 Rest Day 7 Arms

As for my back day planning:

1- Assisted Pull-Ups 4×6-8 2- Leg Press Calf Raises 3×15 (I'm adding this here for my forearms to recover, and additional growth for my calves I guess) 3- Wide Grip Chest Supported Row 3×10 4- Dumbell Shrugs 3×15 5- Back Extensions

Some might say that I need to throw in an extra exercise for rear delts but I can't really spend too much time in the gym during the day, so I might as well add it to my arms day and possibly front and side delts too because they recover really fast, making it an arms & shoulders day I guess.

Anyways this it for the context stuff, I need some advice about whether I should add a second arm day or back day. Basically my question is: which split should I focus on for more back growth in the long run?

I’m a healthy man in my 30’s, I don’t drink, smoke etc and no family history of health issues beyond being hospitalized with COVID in 2022. Been lifting 20 years and mostly competed in powerlifting and some strongman. I didn’t begin to look into supplements until recently when I began to use creatine, about half the dose on the container (half scoop).

However at my recent physical my doctor is convinced that using creatine will cause liver failure. Is he right, or are his claims bogus?

About 7 years of lifting experience and I have plateaued. I’m starting to realise that maybe I have been doing to much and am going to start scaling back by doing 16 sets per muscle group every week. Since I will be doing less sets than I normally do, should I take every set to failure to ensure atrophy and progressive overload? I feel like since my workouts will be shorter I’ve got to compensate by making them much more intense.

I have been working out seriously for over a year and I get doms after every workout no matter what muscle group I hit. I'm currently doing 7 sets chest day, 10 sets back day, 12 for arms (6 bi 6 tri) 10 sets legs, so relatively low but really high intensity but I get sore every time no matter what. my diets on point I eat 1g/1lb body weight for protein, stretching, getting 8 1/2 - 9 hours of sleep and currently on a lean bulk. Any tips or is it soreness fine?

Hey, I've been lifting for 2 years now, and throughout my life, I've always had bad knees (surgery on my left one). I never had any concerns during my lifting years, except for one time when both of my knees started hurting.

I wanted to know what you guys do (exercises, stretches, routines, etc.) to keep your knees healthy, mainly because I'm only 21 and want to get to my 30s/40s without weak and "limited" knees.

So i self diagnosed myself with distal clavicle osteolysis (weighlifter's shoulder) and doing any pressing movements isn't really an option right now. So any alternative exercises for pressing movements for chest would really be appreciated

P.s: if someone dealt with this before please share your experience

26 M 6’0 175lbs~

Whenever I hit legs, specifically leg press, I often feel like I’m going to throw up. I usually try to push myself to failure, but with legs this feeling comes when I know my legs have a few more reps left, but if I continue I’m almost certain I will puke or pass out . Will using a belt help with this? Is it because of my bracing? I’m relatively lean and pretty healthy. I want to be able to really push myself to grow my legs more but I don’t want to hurl all over the gym.

Almost every leg day I leave the gym disappointed knowing I could’ve got more reps in.

I was short on time but I wanted to quickly train something at home. I decided to do a dropset for my biceps (curls) starting from 25 for 5 reps to 20 to 17.5 to 15 to 12.5 to 10 to 7.5 to 5. Just to see how it'll feel like.

I have never had a better mind-muscle connection, pump or DOMS this crazy before. I feel like this might not be exactly what the science bros say but I feel like I got a good stimulus (Or maybe it was fatigue?) from the one drop set and it only took me like 3 minutes.

I wanted to ask if I'm missing out on any gains doing it this way instead of the standard science-based way or 3-4 sets or 8-12 reps for 1-2RIR. If so, how "many" gains would I be missing out on exactly. I like this style of training and feel like its super effective for both increasing stimulus and decreasing time/length of workout.

Just wanted to see what other people think about whether I'm missing out on any gains or if there is anything I should be vary of with this style of training. Obviously I'm not gonna do drop sets for every body part, everyday, every set... obviously not for heavy compounds (right?).

im trying to make more gains after 5 years of mediocre gains. im currently on a cut. My rep scheme typically consists of 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps. what would be better for me, continuing this and focusing on perfect form, full range of motion, slowing on eccentric movement and holding the isometric for about a second. Even if that means using a lower weight than i could handle. Or should i try to go as heavy as i can (to failure or near failure) even if my form and range of motion suffers a bit? i notice even though the weights i use is lower, when i focus on really slow controlled full range of motion, it can still get pretty tiring. When doing this i still pick a weight to get me to near failure while maintaining my form. so essentially what should i prioritize for muscle gain, form and movement or heavy weight?

I’m knowledgable enough about hypertrophy and strength training and do have a decent amount of experience, with 3 years doing powerlifting and about 2 doing bodybuilding style training. However I’m in a bit of a tricky training plateau and generally feeling directionless and like I’m treading water. I’d like to be bigger, but I’m also an awkward in between bf% (I’d guess somewhere between 16-18%).

I’d like a custom program based on my ‘weak points’, meal plan and just someone to give me advice and check in on my weight and progress pics etc. but I don’t want to actually cut down to stage-ready level bf% and compete. With that being said, it does feel a bit redundant paying for such a service if there is no precipice to all of the hard work or tangible goal (other than just looking good).

Would be interested to hear what others think about this? Perhaps it’s better to just DIY it and reset, start a new program, and begin tracking everything more meticulously

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

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

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

Quick questions guys and girls.

When you do a lot of sets does your muscles seema to get kinda numb?

Not in the way like the dentist would numb your teeth before working on them.

More like i do sets of calves. The first 3-4 ones will burn like hell. After that if I keep going at it i just keep reaching kinda failure but they dont burn anymore.

It happen on smaller muscles like calves and forearms. On the orher hands on quads I can do like 6-7 sets of squat with pause at the bottom and the last ones keep burning like these mofos cant get enough.

Can it be like the sign that i am enetering junk volume and just moving my calves around?

I live in a small town (not first world) and usually work out there, so its a pretty small community and dont really see a lot of lifting culture in person. but sometimes i have to get out of town and if i have time, workout there too.

Last time I did I saw this trainer with his costumer, giving cue after cue, touching all over his back and spend endless reps without weight practicing cable front raise form. Imo one of the simplest exercises. It really feels unnecessary and like hes trying to appear smarter than he is. At the same time I feel like he should get to use challenging weight as soon as possible instead of wasting a whole session (at least) on form. he then proceeded to do the same with smith machine ohp. Maybe its a me thing but I feel the best time to use free weightsis starting out and the best time for smith is when youre used to the groove, but I get not everyone does. but they never put any weight on the machine. just practice rep after practice rep.

Is this really how it is commonly?

From what I understand, 20 sets per week per muscle group is optimal for advanced lifters. So would one need to hit lats for 20 sets and then also do 20 sets of rows for your inner back? Or is it just 20 sets for back in general?

Anyone using a Casein brand that taste good and doesn’t mix like sh*t / taste too chalky? It’s been a struggle for me lately. I am US based so US based brands would be great.

I was thinking maybe you guys could tell me for example which competition has the most rigorous drug testing, so I could look at their competitors to see what is actually achieveable. Maybe also pictures of them when they are not exactly stage-ready.

I am training for hypertrophy for ~2 years now and have made pretty good progress already I think. But I am clueless to which competitions actually drug test. Quite a lot of confusing information about that out there. Also I am 195cm/6ft4in and most bodybuilders I see are usually a bit shorter so I'd like to see what a maxed out athlete at my height can look like and what they weigh.

I know genetics play a big role too and I'm still far from my limit obviously at just 2 years. But I'd just like to know what is ACTUALLY possible in the absolute best circumstances for me as there is so much fake natty stuff out there, even in a lot of "natty" competitions apparently.

  Context: A guy I bump into at my gym usually gives me some tips on how to improve my workouts, but today he told me some things that would be a major change to my lifts and I really don't want to risk losing any progress. 

I'm just gonna write out my side first and then follow it with his responses:

• My primary goal is to improve my physique, not necessary concerned with hitting PR's.

• I've been hitting essentially the same routine every lift, just adjusting the weight a little higher every workout. On average, I'm doing about 4x12 at 80-90% of my 1RM, starting lower and adding weight every set.

• I've started eating about 0.8g to 1g of protein for every pound I weigh. (currently 170lbs so anywhere between ~160 to 170g a day)

• I get very few opportunities to sleep more than 3-4 consecutive hours a day because of my work schedule, so I've been trying to fill the gaps with napping to try and help.

His responses were:

• The current structure of my workouts are geared more towards someone prioritizing strength. Instead, I should still increase every set , but do less reps on the higher weights.

• I need to do a different variation every single workout.

• For bodybuilding, protein is nowhere near as important as carbohydrates. Specifically, he used the analogy "your body is a wall, the carbs are the bricks and the protein is the cement". He also mentioned I should try BCAAs instead of protein powder.

• Essentially all of my potential gains are sliced in half because of my lack of sleep. If I'm serious about growing, I need to find a way to get 8 hours minimum.

I could really use some input on this. Again, these are some pretty major changes so if anyone could maybe drop a second opinion on any of these points, it would help immensely.

I haven’t been to the gym in ten months, I got into a relationship and got comfortable and put on a ton of weight. Prior to this I was in the best shape of my life. Now that the honeymoon period is over, I am getting back into training.

My question is, am I a candidate for body recomp since I haven’t trained in 10 months and have gained a lot of fat? I will be cutting and was considering reducing the volume of my workouts during the cut but I don’t want to do this if it this will hinder my ability to recomp.

So I do 99.9% of my training for hypertrophy but I wanted to increase my bench strength a bit more so I’ve added one set of 3-5 rep bench press at the start of both my upper days. Fatigue has been an issue for me in the past so I’m not trying to do loads of heavy sets.

Any advice would be great! Thanks :)

doing torso and limbs but i wanna try adding an extra torso day to give chest back and shoulders their own day. for example

torso(chest focus)) limbs torso (back focus) limbs torso (shoulder focus)

I’ve recently introduced SSB squats to my routine. I did smith squats for the last year but just getting tired of them. How beneficial is a belt? I consider straps to be essential for my RDL movement, are belts at the same caliber in terms of necessity?