AMA - Personal Trainer

[StompingAcorns]

Thanks so much for a thorough and helpful response! I am feeling very bloated, so your words are encouraging. I thought maybe it was fluids surrounding the tissue it's repairing, so it's good to know that the muscles actually store more glycogen. And yes, I'm measuring weekly in addition to weighing. I'm determined to stick with weight training this time for the long haul. MJ's Millionaire Fastlane , Hardy's Compound Effect, and some other reading have made me realize I treat everything as a sprint instead of a marathon; so I'm working on changing that. I'm looking forward to seeing that 6 month change in my body!

The first trainer I hired was a solo trainer. I'm now with a private gym and this trainer is putting me through great lifting routines 2xweek and I'm alternating with interval training. That's very kind of you to offer to review my routine. She varies it each time, and it always includes some combination of core work, leg presses or squats, and presses and pulls for back, chest, and arms; and her degree is in sports fitness so I'm comfortable with it for now. And yes, planks are included. I'll add the stretches for glutes and adductors. I'm already doing forward fold and pigeon yoga poses for IT band and hamstrings. I will keep focused on strength building, per your recommendation.

Thanks for the note about personal trainers. I'll be moving soon, so you've made me realize I'll have to be careful who I choose in the new city. BTW, that would be a great opt in freebie idea - one page guide to choosing a personal trainer, what questions to ask them. (For example, I had no idea you could get a certificate without any actual coursework!)

Thanks again for your reply, and please let me know if there is anything I can do to support your business in return.

Transferring rep.

Oops, I don't have enough to transfer. When I get 10, it's yours!

 

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[Longinus]

Hi Austin,

Thanks for the great information you provide here.

I'm working out for 6+ years right now. Currently bulking, but I focus on strength with the well known 5/3/1 program. For some reason I'm strong, but I don't look that way. For example, my max:

bench: 120 kg
squat: 180 kg
deadlift: 250 kg (going for 280 kg this season)

I'm 92 kg right now (like last year). I was 83 kg in summer, and that's my problem. When I'm cutting, a huge part of my muscles disappear. I know this is normal, but meanwhile my bodyfat stays. On the photo, I was around 11% BF and my abs were barely visible. I worked out 5-6 times a week.

Is it my bodytype or am I doing something wrong here?

It frustrates me in a way that I almost give up on looking lean and want to bulk heavy until I'm 160 kg and F*ck up my joints while deadlifting 400+ kg during strongman contests.

 

[marklov]

Delete

 

[AustinS28]

Hi Austin,

Thanks for the great information you provide here.

I'm working out for 6+ years right now. Currently bulking, but I focus on strength with the well known 5/3/1 program. For some reason I'm strong, but I don't look that way. For example, my max:

bench: 120 kg
squat: 180 kg
deadlift: 250 kg (going for 280 kg this season)

I'm 92 kg right now (like last year). I was 83 kg in summer, and that's my problem. When I'm cutting, a huge part of my muscles disappear. I know this is normal, but meanwhile my bodyfat stays. On the photo, I was around 11% BF and my abs were barely visible. I worked out 5-6 times a week.

Is it my bodytype or am I doing something wrong here?

It frustrates me in a way that I almost give up on looking lean and want to bulk heavy until I'm 160 kg and F*ck up my joints while deadlifting 400+ kg during strongman contests.

Hey Longinus

I'm familiar with Wendler's 5/3/1 program. What accessory lifts are you adding to the compound exercises?

Strength and muscle size are two separate beasts although the stronger you get, typically the larger your muscles will become.

There is a reason why bodybuilders and power lifters train differently. Both can be strong and muscular, but both train for different purposes. Bodybuilders train the muscle, power lifters train the movement. What that means is bodybuilders are usually more concerned with mind muscle connection, time under tension, slow controlled movements that create the most micro trauma to muscle fibers leading to the most muscular growth when all things repair. On the flip side, power lifters are all about explosive movements and efficiency. Bodybuilders don't lift efficiently when we are talking about lifting for maximum strength. This does not mean bodybuilders aren't concerned with strength and power lifters aren't concerned with size. This is typically why most people do a combination of both styles of lifting except put priority on one and add the other in the form of accessory lifts.

Strength is largely built as your nervous system becomes more efficient. This is when my point about strength and muscle size being two desperate beasts really becomes important. Your central nervous system is the foundation for explosive and heavy lifts. Yes adding mass will improve leverages and make someone stronger and yes powerlifting will lead to muscle growth, but it's again typically not leading to the same type of muscle growth you'd see in someone solely focused on hypertrophy. At least not in all the same areas.

This leads to the next point. You need nutrients to grow. If you're eating X amount of Macros to sustain your current lean body mass, keeping your intake the same is only going to provide the same result. You probably need to eat more during this next bulking cycle. I'm not saying binge but an extra 250-500 calories a day can make a solid difference.

As far as your cut.

I wouldn't say a huge amount of muscle disappeared. Dropping calories specifically from carbohydrates will make you appear flat. You also drop a lot of water during this process. Less carbs and water in your muscles will also make them appear smaller and flat.

I also notice a lot of people don't realize how much weight they need to cut to appear ripped. You stopped your cut at a point that I feel everyone goes through. You start big and full, start dropping weight and begin to become more defined. Then this phase hits, you're still not quite ripped, yet all your t-shirts fit baggy, you dropped 15-20 pounds and feel small. If you can mentally push through this point and drop another 5-10 pounds you'll wind up chiseled and looking bigger. If you learn how you handle carbs and can plan accordingly as well, you can get that full veiny muscular look with some planning before an outing (say the beach). It's how a lot of bodybuilders plan around a show and carb up for the event so they can gain their fullness back.

Hope this helps.

*I also want to reference I'm giving info based on training without assistance. Assisted lifters are going to gain a lot more muscle no matter how they train.

 

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[Guest3722A]

My pleasure, and thank you. Please let me know how this goes.

Aaaaand, I'm back with an update. So, what happened was I signed up with that recommended website and saw that my caloric intake was way lower than what it was telling me I should be taking in to maintain the body weight. This frustrated me because I was thinking something else was possibly going on and that maybe my system just completely adapted to my intake and stubbornly maintained the body weight. 2 weeks ago I ran across Tim Ferriss's modified version of a low GI diet which he calls the Slow Carb Diet, and since, I'm down 13 lbs.. Cautious about the rapid loss but glad I found something.

 

[Longinus]

Hey Longinus

I'm familiar with Wendler's 5/3/1 program. What accessory lifts are you adding to the compound exercises?

Strength and muscle size are two separate beasts although the stronger you get, typically the larger your muscles will become.

There is a reason why bodybuilders and power lifters train differently. Both can be strong and muscular, but both train for different purposes. Bodybuilders train the muscle, power lifters train the movement. What that means is bodybuilders are usually more concerned with mind muscle connection, time under tension, slow controlled movements that create the most micro trauma to muscle fibers leading to the most muscular growth when all things repair. On the flip side, power lifters are all about explosive movements and efficiency. Bodybuilders don't lift efficiently when we are talking about lifting for maximum strength. This does not mean bodybuilders aren't concerned with strength and power lifters aren't concerned with size. This is typically why most people do a combination of both styles of lifting except put priority on one and add the other in the form of accessory lifts.

Strength is largely built as your nervous system becomes more efficient. This is when my point about strength and muscle size being two desperate beasts really becomes important. Your central nervous system is the foundation for explosive and heavy lifts. Yes adding mass will improve leverages and make someone stronger and yes powerlifting will lead to muscle growth, but it's again typically not leading to the same type of muscle growth you'd see in someone solely focused on hypertrophy. At least not in all the same areas.

This leads to the next point. You need nutrients to grow. If you're eating X amount of Macros to sustain your current lean body mass, keeping your intake the same is only going to provide the same result. You probably need to eat more during this next bulking cycle. I'm not saying binge but an extra 250-500 calories a day can make a solid difference.

As far as your cut.

I wouldn't say a huge amount of muscle disappeared. Dropping calories specifically from carbohydrates will make you appear flat. You also drop a lot of water during this process. Less carbs and water in your muscles will also make them appear smaller and flat.

I also notice a lot of people don't realize how much weight they need to cut to appear ripped. You stopped your cut at a point that I feel everyone goes through. You start big and full, start dropping weight and begin to become more defined. Then this phase hits, you're still not quite ripped, yet all your t-shirts fit baggy, you dropped 15-20 pounds and feel small. If you can mentally push through this point and drop another 5-10 pounds you'll wind up chiseled and looking bigger. If you learn how you handle carbs and can plan accordingly as well, you can get that full veiny muscular look with some planning before an outing (say the beach). It's how a lot of bodybuilders plan around a show and carb up for the event so they can gain their fullness back.

Hope this helps.

*I also want to reference I'm giving info based on training without assistance. Assisted lifters are going to gain a lot more muscle no matter how they train.

Awesome post!

I add assistance exercises for example:

Military: db incline bench, db shoulder fly, cable row, some triceps
Deadlift: bulgarian split, front squat, kickback, some biceps
Bench: wide grip pull up, shoulder press, pec dec, some triceps
Squat: leg press, good morning, some abs, some curls, some calves

I change the exercises every month. But I was also wondering if it really matters if you change some exercises? I can understand some different angles can make a difference. But would it really if you change curls with another biceps exercise like hammer curls?

When cutting, I don't use 5/3/1, but another split schedule.

Anyhow, I understand. I already eat a lot more when bulking. I think I'm gonna focus on my carbs intake this summer and cut a little longer this time.

 

[AustinS28]

Aaaaand, I'm back with an update. So, what happened was I signed up with that recommended website and saw that my caloric intake was way lower than what it was telling me I should be taking in to maintain the body weight. This frustrated me because I was thinking something else was possibly going on and that maybe my system just completely adapted to my intake and stubbornly maintained the body weight. 2 weeks ago I ran across Tim Ferriss's modified version of a low GI diet which he calls the Slow Carb Diet, and since, I'm down 13 lbs.. Cautious about the rapid loss but glad I found something.

Glad you found something.

Just curious, when you signed up for the site and tracked your food, did you use a food scale to weigh everything for accuracy?

Second, I'm unfamiliar with the slow carb diet, but if your drastically reduced your carb intake the majority of those 13lbs is water. However, that isn't a bad thing, happens when most people start a fat loss diet. Keep plugging along and you'll get there.

 

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[AustinS28]

Awesome post!

I add assistance exercises for example:

Military: db incline bench, db shoulder fly, cable row, some triceps
Deadlift: bulgarian split, front squat, kickback, some biceps
Bench: wide grip pull up, shoulder press, pec dec, some triceps
Squat: leg press, good morning, some abs, some curls, some calves

I change the exercises every month. But I was also wondering if it really matters if you change some exercises? I can understand some different angles can make a difference. But would it really if you change curls with another biceps exercise like hammer curls?

When cutting, I don't use 5/3/1, but another split schedule.

Anyhow, I understand. I already eat a lot more when bulking. I think I'm gonna focus on my carbs intake this summer and cut a little longer this time.

Exercise selection if you are talking about switching barbell curls to preacher curls, or bench press to incline db press doesn't matter much. The importance is just doing them and getting the most out of each movement.

I'd also suggest not switching your lifting routine when it comes time to cut. That's another place people screw up. If you spent the past year getting strong, and then begin lifting "light" on a cut, your body doesn't have as much reason to hang onto all the added muscle mass you acquired the previous year.

Your body wants homeostasis and is very efficient. If there isn't a reason for it to hang onto extra muscle mass, it will get rid of it and that happens easily on restricted calories.

 

[McFirewavesJr]

Good to see a fellow fitness hustler. Keep it up.

Sent from my LG-D852G using Tapatalk

 

[Guest3722A]

Glad you found something.

Just curious, when you signed up for the site and tracked your food, did you use a food scale to weigh everything for accuracy?

Second, I'm unfamiliar with the slow carb diet, but if your drastically reduced your carb intake the majority of those 13lbs is water. However, that isn't a bad thing, happens when most people start a fat loss diet. Keep plugging along and you'll get there.

No food scale. I just selected the items they suggested and the site calculated the numbers for me. I even adjusted up against the suggestions because I wanted to see what it would take to get to maintenance. My intake was low. In trying to fit this all in reason the only thing I came up with was that I went through some severe trauma and I'm thinking my system just reacted.

The slow carb diet, from what I understand, is comprised of only foods that don't promote fat storage at all. Low glycemic index. Avoid all white carbs. Stick as close to organic as possible. No fruit. Grass fed meat when possible. Don't drink calories. But I am doing one glass of dry red wine almost every night which is the only drinkable calories allowed. Green tea almost daily. And a multi vitamin mineral. One cheat day so the body doesn't adjust.

A day of meals for me right now is something like 3 large cage free organic eggs w omega 3 + 3 pieces of Canadian bacon. Hummus as a snack or natural peanut butter or some cashews or pecans. Tuna out of the can with organic lentil soup. And about an 11 oz sirloin with mushrooms and mixed vegetables.

The water was just starting to go too but this last cheat day stopped it I think. I can absolutely feel the fat going away and can feel much more muscle now. My 38 waist jeans I'm swimming in too - so liking that seeing that I have a whole closet of 34s.

Ferriss says that it's fat that this diet burns and although skeptical, I'm kinda starting to believe it because I'm seeing it.

Here's one of the links

http://fourhourworkweek.com/2012/07/12/how-to-lose-100-pounds/

 

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[StompingAcorns]

Hi Austin,
I wanted to send you an update. I've been lifting about 5 weeks now, and I've already seen a significant improvement in my back soreness. I'm amazed to see significant progress in a relatively short period of time. My knees are a little cranky now and then, but no sharp pain and I'm feeling more confident that they will come along, too. So thanks again for your encouragement!

The biggest obstacle I've had with the lifting is significant fatigue. At first, I was doing lifting 2xweek (6-15 rep range, multiple sets, to fatigue, and she always varies the exercises as well as whether we're reverse pyramiding or alternating or whatever) and doing interval training between (30 min walk/run) with 1 day off. The weight exercises are always major movements, e.g., we never do curls or tricep extensions or leg extensions, but we will do dips, chins, squats in addition to the more typical sled, bench press, etc. I continued the 2xweek lifting but stopped doing the interval training and started brisk walking for 30 min on my non-lifting days and allowing myself more than 1 day off a week. The fatigue is some better, but the morning after weights I still can't get out of bed and am pretty tired all day. I will keep slogging through it and hope it gets better in the next few weeks.

One question I am curious about, just because I like to "know how things work" - from my reading, it seems reasonable to expect a beginning female weight lifter can easily gain 10-12 lb of muscle the first year. Do you agree? And do you know, does that tend to be mostly linear or more exponential, or is there an adjustment period, after which the gaining starts? I.e., can I expect roughly a 1 lb gain per month? And how much muscle does a typical body carry, anyway, so would 10 lbs be (roughly) 10% or 5% or 1% of total body muscle mass?

 

[SeanF]

I've been a lot more active on the boards recently and truly didn't realize what a wealth of information and people we have over here. I am also in a transitional phase where I am doing a lot of remodeling of my current business. I am 24 and will be 25 on the 28th of this month. I have 1 year of experience as a self-employed personal trainer with a growing business and over 10 years of gym experience, 4 years actually making money from it.

I don't see too many self-employed trainers on the site and thought I could help people grow their business. I'd also be open to answer general fitness questions, but routine creation is definitely something that can be discussed on a different platform since it's very detailed and in-depth.

This is me. I power lift and I am not as lean currently as I am in the below transformations, but I am quite a bit stronger.

My current website - http://www.trainwitha.com
Website under construction - http://manhattantrainer.com

Hey. That's one impressive transformation! (fist-pump emoticon!). I'm about to start a freeletics programme on Sunday.
I will do it just on Sundays, as monday wednesday thursday are my gym days.
Should my diet be kept the same with regards to prots/carbs etc or do i need to change it up now I'll be doing more calisthenics?

 

[AustinS28]

No food scale. I just selected the items they suggested and the site calculated the numbers for me. I even adjusted up against the suggestions because I wanted to see what it would take to get to maintenance. My intake was low. In trying to fit this all in reason the only thing I came up with was that I went through some severe trauma and I'm thinking my system just reacted.

The slow carb diet, from what I understand, is comprised of only foods that don't promote fat storage at all. Low glycemic index. Avoid all white carbs. Stick as close to organic as possible. No fruit. Grass fed meat when possible. Don't drink calories. But I am doing one glass of dry red wine almost every night which is the only drinkable calories allowed. Green tea almost daily. And a multi vitamin mineral. One cheat day so the body doesn't adjust.

A day of meals for me right now is something like 3 large cage free organic eggs w omega 3 + 3 pieces of Canadian bacon. Hummus as a snack or natural peanut butter or some cashews or pecans. Tuna out of the can with organic lentil soup. And about an 11 oz sirloin with mushrooms and mixed vegetables.

The water was just starting to go too but this last cheat day stopped it I think. I can absolutely feel the fat going away and can feel much more muscle now. My 38 waist jeans I'm swimming in too - so liking that seeing that I have a whole closet of 34s.

Ferriss says that it's fat that this diet burns and although skeptical, I'm kinda starting to believe it because I'm seeing it.

Here's one of the links

http://fourhourworkweek.com/2012/07/12/how-to-lose-100-pounds/

Sorry for my absence. I've been super busy with work and projects and didn't want to begin replying to things if it were to only leave a half assed reply. Anyways, I'm snowed in and taking a break from creating blog content.

You need a food scale.

Let me explain.

Fitday.com can't weigh and measure your food, it only can tell you how many calories are in weighed and measured foods. If I add one piece of chicken to my foodlog and one piece is defaulted to 6 oz on fitday, and in reality my piece was 12, I just ate double the calories I thought I was eating. The same goes for every piece of food entering my mouth.

We are so calculated and accurate on everything we find important, business, finances etc. That leads to the best results. The same goes for food. Its tax season, you wouldn't just guess how many dollars you can write-off for your business. You want to find every penny possible so you can save the most money.

That said, you can definitely lose weight without counting calories and macros. It may not be the best way, but it may be the most sustainable for long term results.

I'm interested to see how the Tim Ferris thing works. I do not like a lot of his fitness information. He grossly exaggerates results on his Facebook page.

 

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[AustinS28]

Hi Austin,
I wanted to send you an update. I've been lifting about 5 weeks now, and I've already seen a significant improvement in my back soreness. I'm amazed to see significant progress in a relatively short period of time. My knees are a little cranky now and then, but no sharp pain and I'm feeling more confident that they will come along, too. So thanks again for your encouragement!

The biggest obstacle I've had with the lifting is significant fatigue. At first, I was doing lifting 2xweek (6-15 rep range, multiple sets, to fatigue, and she always varies the exercises as well as whether we're reverse pyramiding or alternating or whatever) and doing interval training between (30 min walk/run) with 1 day off. The weight exercises are always major movements, e.g., we never do curls or tricep extensions or leg extensions, but we will do dips, chins, squats in addition to the more typical sled, bench press, etc. I continued the 2xweek lifting but stopped doing the interval training and started brisk walking for 30 min on my non-lifting days and allowing myself more than 1 day off a week. The fatigue is some better, but the morning after weights I still can't get out of bed and am pretty tired all day. I will keep slogging through it and hope it gets better in the next few weeks.

One question I am curious about, just because I like to "know how things work" - from my reading, it seems reasonable to expect a beginning female weight lifter can easily gain 10-12 lb of muscle the first year. Do you agree? And do you know, does that tend to be mostly linear or more exponential, or is there an adjustment period, after which the gaining starts? I.e., can I expect roughly a 1 lb gain per month? And how much muscle does a typical body carry, anyway, so would 10 lbs be (roughly) 10% or 5% or 1% of total body muscle mass?

Hey, glad things seems to be going well!

Your fatigue will improve. Lifting can be very taxing even cardiovascularly. Keep doing cardio and keep hammering away at the resistance exercises and you'll only get better.

Your question really has no concrete answer. I think most people in their first year of training can add 10-12 lbs of lean body mass. Strength and muscle gains are never linear. I would say the first few months to year of training and you'll see your biggest increases in strength and muscle gain...after that it slowly tapers off. 10 year of lifting down the line, if I could put on 10-20 pounds on my bench press I'd be ecstatic. I put over 100 pounds on my bench press the first year I began lifting.

 

[AustinS28]

Hey. That's one impressive transformation! (fist-pump emoticon!). I'm about to start a freeletics programme on Sunday.
I will do it just on Sundays, as monday wednesday thursday are my gym days.
Should my diet be kept the same with regards to prots/carbs etc or do i need to change it up now I'll be doing more calisthenics?

Thanks! I would keep your diet the same. I like to change one variable at a time. It's easier to find out what works and what doesn't when you do things that way.

 

[biophase]

When I bench I feel like my front delts get more work than pecs, what am I doing wrong form-wise? I have long arms @ 6ft tall, if that helps.

I had this issue with my bench for 20+ years. I found out my problem was that I wasn't keeping my shoulder back during my press. And the top of my press my shoulders would come up and off the bench. So now I concentrate on keeping my shoulders back and I squeeze my shoulder blades together before I lay on the bench.

 

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[Guest3722A]

Sorry for my absence. I've been super busy with work and projects and didn't want to begin replying to things if it were to only leave a half assed reply. Anyways, I'm snowed in and taking a break from creating blog content.

You need a food scale.

Let me explain.

Fitday.com can't weigh and measure your food, it only can tell you how many calories are in weighed and measured foods. If I add one piece of chicken to my foodlog and one piece is defaulted to 6 oz on fitday, and in reality my piece was 12, I just ate double the calories I thought I was eating. The same goes for every piece of food entering my mouth.

We are so calculated and accurate on everything we find important, business, finances etc. That leads to the best results. The same goes for food. Its tax season, you wouldn't just guess how many dollars you can write-off for your business. You want to find every penny possible so you can save the most money.

That said, you can definitely lose weight without counting calories and macros. It may not be the best way, but it may be the most sustainable for long term results.

I'm interested to see how the Tim Ferris thing works. I do not like a lot of his fitness information. He grossly exaggerates results on his Facebook page.

Hey Austin, what's happening -
Well, this was week 5 and I'm stoked to say I'm down 19 lbs! Unreal to say the least. Yesterday was cheat day and everything tastes like crap now plus I noticed multiple food allergy symptoms after eating all that junk. I'm liking the program as it is working for me and my specific situation.

 

[oimate]

Hey Austin,

Started with a personal trainer last week as I am finally committed to getting into shape and losing the moobs and beer belly lol

I have been consistently going to the gym for the past year and have lost about 23 pounds in that time.

I am male, currently 16.2 stone/275 pounds and 6"0 tall (182cm) and have always been broad shouldered

Having realised my mistake by mostly doing cardio based excerise in that time I am now doing more weight/resistance based activities hence the personal trainer for a couple of month just for that extra motivation and also to learn the machines/free weights and the proper form etc.

I have reached a bit of a plateau regarding weight loss and whilst I am confident that progress will be made on muscle gain etc, I only lost 1 pound last week and I was good regarding diet etc.

Can you offer any advice on food intake as I consume approx 1300 calories per day and having read into it etc I believe I should be eating more-so my body doesnt try and keep hold of the fat as it probably thinks its in starvation mode. I do however struggle to eat anymore.

Would taking a good whey protein isolate shake twice a day be a good subsitute for feeding my body so it doesnt store the fat?

Anyone else been in this situation and successfully overcame it? What was your process?

 

[AustinS28]

Hey Austin,

Started with a personal trainer last week as I am finally committed to getting into shape and losing the moobs and beer belly lol

I have been consistently going to the gym for the past year and have lost about 23 pounds in that time.

I am male, currently 16.2 stone/275 pounds and 6"0 tall (182cm) and have always been broad shouldered

Having realised my mistake by mostly doing cardio based excerise in that time I am now doing more weight/resistance based activities hence the personal trainer for a couple of month just for that extra motivation and also to learn the machines/free weights and the proper form etc.

I have reached a bit of a plateau regarding weight loss and whilst I am confident that progress will be made on muscle gain etc, I only lost 1 pound last week and I was good regarding diet etc.

Can you offer any advice on food intake as I consume approx 1300 calories per day and having read into it etc I believe I should be eating more-so my body doesnt try and keep hold of the fat as it probably thinks its in starvation mode. I do however struggle to eat anymore.

Would taking a good whey protein isolate shake twice a day be a good subsitute for feeding my body so it doesnt store the fat?

Anyone else been in this situation and successfully overcame it? What was your process?

I've been cranking some crazy hours lately with a ton of growth in my business and I just returned from a weekend in California at my girlfriends. Sorry for the delayed response.

Congratulations on the weight loss. 23 pounds is no joke. Good on you taking a step further and hiring someone to give you the extra knowledge necessary to achieve the remainder of your goals.

A few things -

- How do you know you're only eating 1300 calories/day? Do you weigh and measure every ounce of food you eat? What does the food consist of?

- Gaining weight or seeing a plateau in weight loss when you start resistance training could be a) an increase in lean body mass which I wouldn't expect in a short period of time, hypertrophy is a very long process b) an increase in glycogen and water being held in the muscles stimulated through the weight training. (My guess).

- obsessing over scale weight is the perfect recipe for an eating disorder. I've seen it first hand, there's literature on it. But turning the goal to become healthy into an obsession becomes a vicious cycle when progress isn't linear which it never is. There will be ups and downs and often when someone is too obsessed those ups and downs cause unhealthy extremes (in both directions) in habits. It's ok to be OCD with your habits, but distinguishing the impact the consequences of your habits have is what's important. Realizing being on 80% and off 20% for two years is going to build a healthy body. On meaning 80% of your habits are physically healthy, and the other 20% are filled with activities that may not be the pinnacle of good health (dinners out, a few drinks with friends), but they keep you mentally healthy. This help you perfect performing the 80% and leads to a healthier body but also a better quality of life since you're mentally healthy as well. I hope this makes sense but it's very important in long term weight loss learning the psychology to sustained gains.

- Shakes are a great way to get in your required amount of protein. Pounds of chicken breasts lose their appeal pretty quickly. Shakes however are no different than real food consisting of the same macros. In fact I'd opt for whole food the majority of the time.

On a side note it took my several years to drop 60 pounds the right way. So you need to prepare to be in this long term. It's the best way, the most sustainable way, and the healthiest way from a mental and physical standpoint.

 

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[Tomekmeister]

Hello Austin!
I'm 17 years old and I've been working out for like 2 years now (only gym). I started at 60kg and 180cm and right now I'm at 80kg and 184cm with about 14-15% body fat. Never in my life I thought I'll need to lose weight, so I only know how to gain one. I'm more of a torso type of guy, that means my back / chest are huge compared to my arms and shoulders, my legs are fine. I'm afraid that if I'll start losing weight, my arms will get smaller and you have no idea how hard it for me to make them not look so small. I tried out almost every technique that I found on the internet - heavy weights, light weights, long rests, short rests, drop sets, doing them 2x a week, changing excercises and many many more, but they still won't grow (fast enough).

My training schedule:
Day 1: Biceps / Triceps
Day 2: Legs
Day 3: Rest day
Day 4: Back
Day 5: Chest / Shoulders
Day 6: Rest day
Day 7: Rest day

Question 1:
How would you improve it so I have better results? Arms and shoulders are the high priority ones. I can hit the gym max 4 times a week.

Question 2:
How to lose weight without losing gains (or the lowest amount possible)? Somewhere I heard losing 0.5kg per week is okay. My goal is to cut to like 10-12% BF. And how long would the process take?

Question 3:
Besides gym I'm really into street workout, but I never knew how to combine both. Is it a good idea to do it like: Week 1 - gym, week 2 - street workout (repeat)?

I know this is a lot to ask and I will understand if you won't answer them. Thank you for your time reading this

 

[AustinS28]

Hello Austin!
I'm 17 years old and I've been working out for like 2 years now (only gym). I started at 60kg and 180cm and right now I'm at 80kg and 184cm with about 14-15% body fat. Never in my life I thought I'll need to lose weight, so I only know how to gain one. I'm more of a torso type of guy, that means my back / chest are huge compared to my arms and shoulders, my legs are fine. I'm afraid that if I'll start losing weight, my arms will get smaller and you have no idea how hard it for me to make them not look so small. I tried out almost every technique that I found on the internet - heavy weights, light weights, long rests, short rests, drop sets, doing them 2x a week, changing excercises and many many more, but they still won't grow (fast enough).

My training schedule:
Day 1: Biceps / Triceps
Day 2: Legs
Day 3: Rest day
Day 4: Back
Day 5: Chest / Shoulders
Day 6: Rest day
Day 7: Rest day

Question 1:
How would you improve it so I have better results? Arms and shoulders are the high priority ones. I can hit the gym max 4 times a week.

Question 2:
How to lose weight without losing gains (or the lowest amount possible)? Somewhere I heard losing 0.5kg per week is okay. My goal is to cut to like 10-12% BF. And how long would the process take?

Question 3:
Besides gym I'm really into street workout, but I never knew how to combine both. Is it a good idea to do it like: Week 1 - gym, week 2 - street workout (repeat)?

I know this is a lot to ask and I will understand if you won't answer them. Thank you for your time reading this

Question 1:
How would you improve it so I have better results? Arms and shoulders are the high priority ones. I can hit the gym max 4 times a week.

-The split is fine if you can only make it to the gym 4x per week. It's what you're doing in those workouts that's important. Are you striving to improve volume (weight/reps/sets) as often as possible? Are you focusing on time under tension (important for hypertrophy). You need to be ok with the fact that building muscle is a slow process that only time and consistency on your routine will fix. I would add an extra arm day, maybe throw some biceps after back and triceps after chest and shoulders if they're a weak point. Could also throw some lateral raises at the end of leg day.

I'd actually, considering your experience level, probably program you like this.

Day 1: Push (Chest/Shoulders/Arms)
Day 2: Posterior Focused Legs (Deadlifts, Hams, Glutes)
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Pull (Back/Arms/Posterior Delts)
Day 5: Anterior Legs (Squats Variations, Quads, Glutes and Hams again but lighter)
Day 6: Off
Day 7: Off

Question 2:
How to lose weight without losing gains (or the lowest amount possible)? Somewhere I heard losing 0.5kg per week is okay. My goal is to cut to like 10-12% BF. And how long would the process take?

Slow and steady wins the race when cutting naturally. Trick is to not rapidly bulk and cut. That's a mistake. Getting fat may help make you strong as an ox, but honestly I don't see why you can't gain while remaining lean and then when it's time to lean up, you're not crash dieting to reveal your progress. Treat lifting as a marathon.

Question 3:
Besides gym I'm really into street workout, but I never knew how to combine both. Is it a good idea to do it like: Week 1 - gym, week 2 - street workout (repeat)?

Nah I would not do that. If you like street exercises which I incorporate a lot of plyometrics into my powerlifting routine you can program the appropriate exercises on the appropriate day. I'm guessing you're talking about muscle ups and body weight exercises done of bars almost like gymnastics stuff. I regularly incorporate lots of jumping and upper body plyo onto appropriate days. Days reserved for explosive training, I lighten the load on my compounds and vice versa. I wouldn't fully stop lifting for a week and do body weight and rotate every other week like that. Instead it's fine to block out your training so certain weeks you focus on one thing over the others, but don't give up the others completely.

I know this is a lot to ask and I will understand if you won't answer them. Thank you for your time reading this

No worries. Hope that helped.

 

[Deleted20833]

What's the key to MAINTAINING 10% BF. I've been 10% BF before and maintained for like 3 months lol

 

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[Tomekmeister]

Question 1:
I'd actually, considering your experience level, probably program you like this.

Day 1: Push (Chest/Shoulders/Arms)
Day 2: Posterior Focused Legs (Deadlifts, Hams, Glutes)
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Pull (Back/Arms/Posterior Delts)
Day 5: Anterior Legs (Squats Variations, Quads, Glutes and Hams again but lighter)
Day 6: Off
Day 7: Off

That would be a really good plan if not the thing I didn't mention in my post. I can't do hams AT ALL. This problem occured since my first day at the gym, I can't really do anything about it. Whenever I tried to do excercise for hams, I suffered a really big pain in tendon at the back side of my knee. The only excercise I do to improve them is deadlift, as nothing hurts while doing it, even when I go heavy.

If I have 2 arms days, do I go hard on both? Or maybe a little lighter on both? I mostly did 3 excercises and 3 sets for each biceps and triceps while having 1 arms day.

I've never really used push & pull program so let me ask you something - how not to sit in the gym for 2 hours for example on Day 1?

Thank you for responding, your advices are very helpful

 

[GetRichODT]

As a 6'6 255# guy, I've always struggled with leaning out. I was really skinny as a kid but bulked up through sheer will and eating.

Can you make any diet suggestions? I've tried slow carb, but find that i then start dropping a lot of weight. I'd like to maintain weight and lean out if at all possible.

 

[Amy Spencer]

Hey, I know this was a while ago, but for a trainer branching into online personal training (or just sending workouts/meal plans) home with a client - do recommend doing everything through email (for like personalizing training) or taking advantage of software like FitFerret.com ?

 

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[MetalGear]

I am working on dropping my body fat by eliminating carbs high on the glycemic index. I am slowly replacing them with vegetables. In the mean time does anyone have any tips on managing the headaches that come with eliminating these high glycemic carbs?