Q and A thread - Angus is peppered.
Replies
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I have been lifting for about 5 years on and off (off was when I was pregnant and on mat leave with my two kids). I found when I wasn't lifting that my muscle definition would decrease and I would have no visible 'tone' when I flexed my arms. It only seemed to take a week of strength training for the 'tone' to come back although I have lost a lot of strength. I always thought if you aren't using your muscle that it would atrophy to a point. So I don't think that in a week I have built up any new muscle but I have that tone or tightness in my muscle returns fairly quickly. Is that just from water/fluid buildup in the muscle? Does this make any sense? I'm working on a low amount of sleep
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I have been lifting for about 5 years on and off (off was when I was pregnant and on mat leave with my two kids). I found when I wasn't lifting that my muscle definition would decrease and I would have no visible 'tone' when I flexed my arms. It only seemed to take a week of strength training for the 'tone' to come back although I have lost a lot of strength. I always thought if you aren't using your muscle that it would atrophy to a point. So I don't think that in a week I have built up any new muscle but I have that tone or tightness in my muscle returns fairly quickly. Is that just from water/fluid buildup in the muscle? Does this make any sense? I'm working on a low amount of sleep
If it helps any, I don't think you are imagining things. It's likely a change in appearance due to fluids.
Consider it a bonus! Its like an immediate source of feedback for training
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First, thanks for doing this! I love the insight and you have a great way of articulating that you know your stuff.
Now for my background:
I am 22(M) ~180 lbs and I have been doing almost exclusively cardio for the last 3 years. In that regard I am very healthy, I have a very low resting heart rate and pump out 30-45 minutes of high resistance cardio a day, no problem. This was always to maintain my weight, but in the last 6-7 months I have added a 3-4 days of weights to my routine. I was able to trim down at my heaviest to where I am currently, and ended up looking a lot less skinnyfat. I overall look more "toned" but I'm lacking some volume I would like. Not looking to get huge, just a happy medium between stick figure and jacked. Optimally I'd like to stay around this weight, but look better.
My questions are as follows:
1) Is there a good indication of when I should bulk/cut to meet this end? Body fat %? As someone who was formerly very overweight I am terrified to quit my "permanent cut" lifestyle.
2) In terms of increasing size (talking upper body here) what is the best approach in terms of training/diet? I'm talking routine - high reps vs high weight, and diet - just controlling calorie surplus/deficit or also changing macros significantly. I can say I don't factor macros in very much currently, but I have plenty of whey at my disposal :P.
Thanks!0 -
First, thanks for doing this! I love the insight and you have a great way of articulating that you know your stuff.
Now for my background:
I am 22(M) ~180 lbs and I have been doing almost exclusively cardio for the last 3 years. In that regard I am very healthy, I have a very low resting heart rate and pump out 30-45 minutes of high resistance cardio a day, no problem. This was always to maintain my weight, but in the last 6-7 months I have added a 3-4 days of weights to my routine. I was able to trim down at my heaviest to where I am currently, and ended up looking a lot less skinnyfat. I overall look more "toned" but I'm lacking some volume I would like. Not looking to get huge, just a happy medium between stick figure and jacked. Optimally I'd like to stay around this weight, but look better.
My questions are as follows:
1) Is there a good indication of when I should bulk/cut to meet this end? Body fat %? As someone who was formerly very overweight I am terrified to quit my "permanent cut" lifestyle.
2) In terms of increasing size (talking upper body here) what is the best approach in terms of training/diet? I'm talking routine - high reps vs high weight, and diet - just controlling calorie surplus/deficit or also changing macros significantly. I can say I don't factor macros in very much currently, but I have plenty of whey at my disposal :P.
Thanks!
Great questions.
1) You could make a theoretical argument for remaining somewhere between about 10 to 15% bodyfat based on how changes to insulin sensitivity could affect nutrient partitioning. If I'm being brutally honest, I wouldn't be able to go into great detail or quantify how important this is as it's not something I have a deep enough knowledge on.
But more importantly I think we need to look at what is practical vs what is theoretical. People who had obesity who are now at a healthier weight tend to have a very hard time (emotionally/psychologically) with intentional weight gain, and rightfully so.
Having coached a few people in this situation I can tell you that more often than not, you're better off thinking of it in terms of "eat at maintenance or JUST A LITTLE BIT north of maintenance" rather than viewing it as "bulking". And I'd take the rate of weight gain well on the slow end. In fact, if I have someone in this situation and they have a month where they gain half a lb or 1lb, I'm not increasing calories, I'll stay right there.
If you are happy with your body there's nothing wrong with eating at maintenance and focusing on training. If you do decide intentionally gain weight, I'd keep it NO GREATER THAN 2lb per month in terms of average weight gain, and as far as when to stop I'd say whenever you start to feel like you're putting on too much body-fat and no longer completely comfortable with your body.
2) Calories will depend on rate of weight gain but anywhere between 0 and 2lbs/month. I would get at least 1g/lb LBM in protein as a minimum. Many people just use 1g/lb bodyweight and I think that's fine for people who are not overweight. There's A LOT of room for preference with fat/carb distribution, but for a rough range, 20 to 30% calories from fat is probably going to fit most people and stick the remainder into carbohydrate. THat's sort of "napkin math" on how I'd set that up and then within that you'd watch for diet adherence/satiety and performance measures to see if anything needs to be tweaked.
From a training standpoint you should be making progress on your lifts over the course of weeks and months, you should be training everything at least 2 times per week (each main muscle group gets stimulus at least twice/week), you should be doing enough volume to promote hypertrophy but not too much to impair recovery.
Here is a very rough set of guidelines on training volume:
https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/optimal-workout-volume/4 -
Bump0
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Giving this a new years eve bump -- I'll pop in a few times today if anyone has anything to add to the thread.2
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I would love to hear your take on protein intake. I was recently told by a Gastroenterologist that my constant hunger, even at night, doesn't require a scope or further bloodwork (which I guess I should be thankful for), and instead I should try increasing my protein intake. Here I was strangely hoping for an ulcer.
I average about 50g protein/day, am an ovo-vegetarian (I don't eat red meat or fish, just chicken, turkey and eggs), and Mon-Fri do a 30 minute Fitness Blender workout involving cardio and bodyweight exercises. I realize 50g isn't much, but I don't know how to get more protein in when I don't have a lot of wiggle room on calories here: 1440. Thanks!
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I would love to hear your take on protein intake. I was recently told by a Gastroenterologist that my constant hunger, even at night, doesn't require a scope or further bloodwork (which I guess I should be thankful for), and instead I should try increasing my protein intake. Here I was strangely hoping for an ulcer.
I average about 50g protein/day, am an ovo-vegetarian (I don't eat red meat or fish, just chicken, turkey and eggs), and Mon-Fri do a 30 minute Fitness Blender workout involving cardio and bodyweight exercises. I realize 50g isn't much, but I don't know how to get more protein in when I don't have a lot of wiggle room on calories here: 1440. Thanks!
You'd definitely benefit from eating more protein. How much do you weigh?1 -
I would love to hear your take on protein intake. I was recently told by a Gastroenterologist that my constant hunger, even at night, doesn't require a scope or further bloodwork (which I guess I should be thankful for), and instead I should try increasing my protein intake. Here I was strangely hoping for an ulcer.
I average about 50g protein/day, am an ovo-vegetarian (I don't eat red meat or fish, just chicken, turkey and eggs), and Mon-Fri do a 30 minute Fitness Blender workout involving cardio and bodyweight exercises. I realize 50g isn't much, but I don't know how to get more protein in when I don't have a lot of wiggle room on calories here: 1440. Thanks!
Not to take over @sidesteel’s thread but I plan all my meals and snacks around my protein. Breakfast is almost always plain Greek yogurt mixed with protein powder and berries. Usually at least 40 grams of protein for 300-350 calories.
If I don’t make breakfast protein heavy, I never meet my goal for the day.2 -
I would love to hear your take on protein intake. I was recently told by a Gastroenterologist that my constant hunger, even at night, doesn't require a scope or further bloodwork (which I guess I should be thankful for), and instead I should try increasing my protein intake. Here I was strangely hoping for an ulcer.
I average about 50g protein/day, am an ovo-vegetarian (I don't eat red meat or fish, just chicken, turkey and eggs), and Mon-Fri do a 30 minute Fitness Blender workout involving cardio and bodyweight exercises. I realize 50g isn't much, but I don't know how to get more protein in when I don't have a lot of wiggle room on calories here: 1440. Thanks!
You'd definitely benefit from eating more protein. How much do you weigh?
Currently 145, 5'4".0 -
I would love to hear your take on protein intake. I was recently told by a Gastroenterologist that my constant hunger, even at night, doesn't require a scope or further bloodwork (which I guess I should be thankful for), and instead I should try increasing my protein intake. Here I was strangely hoping for an ulcer.
I average about 50g protein/day, am an ovo-vegetarian (I don't eat red meat or fish, just chicken, turkey and eggs), and Mon-Fri do a 30 minute Fitness Blender workout involving cardio and bodyweight exercises. I realize 50g isn't much, but I don't know how to get more protein in when I don't have a lot of wiggle room on calories here: 1440. Thanks!
You'd definitely benefit from eating more protein. How much do you weigh?
Currently 145, 5'4".
If you are trying to lose weight, it's probably benefit you for aiming for around 90 to 110g of protein. Not only should it help with fullness, but will also help maintain the muscle you have. Also, resistance training helps maintain muscle as well.1 -
I would love to hear your take on protein intake. I was recently told by a Gastroenterologist that my constant hunger, even at night, doesn't require a scope or further bloodwork (which I guess I should be thankful for), and instead I should try increasing my protein intake. Here I was strangely hoping for an ulcer.
I average about 50g protein/day, am an ovo-vegetarian (I don't eat red meat or fish, just chicken, turkey and eggs), and Mon-Fri do a 30 minute Fitness Blender workout involving cardio and bodyweight exercises. I realize 50g isn't much, but I don't know how to get more protein in when I don't have a lot of wiggle room on calories here: 1440. Thanks!
I eat 1500 calories per day and eat between 90g and 160g protein (working on hitting the higher number more often than the lower number) so it is definitely very doable on 1500 calories. I can't imagine taking in only 50g - that can easily be taken in in one meal. greek yogurt, chicken, protein shakes, eggs, egg whites, etc.1 -
Just saw that this thread was recently bumped -- I pretty much agree with the replies you've already received.
Consider that you may not be able to get from your previous habit of 50g/day all the way up to 100+ since it requires some significant changes to food habits which not everyone can pull off in one swoop like that.
Having said that, I would consider using a protein supplement if you're not opposed to it, I would consider looking at sources of protein that contain little to no fat simply because these tend to be lower calorie sources. Greek Yogurt and egg whites are good options for example.
Increasing your protein from low calorie and protein dense food options should substantially blunt hunger.2 -
Thank you all! Took a week off from logging, but will get back at it and make a concerted effort to pack in more protein. Not opposed to supplementing at all, actually having a shake now! 1
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Ha @SideSteel
Happy to read from you. I wonder how far someone is able to get in building a bit of muscle, and with that a bit more strength and muscle endurance with interval-type bodyweight exercises. That's all I can do at the moment, with no jumping (my lower neightbour would hate me) and no chance of fixing a pullup bar or similar (walls and door frames are too instable). At the moment I'm doing old bodyrock workouts, and honestly, I enjoy the fun-factor of them which is important as well.
After about a month I at least have visible shoulder muscles, and a very round and present bum - at least when I flex it. But of course I cannot always flex it.
I know about convict conditioning, and startbodyweight, but I find those rather dull even though a progressive programme would be better.
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Ha @SideSteel
Happy to read from you. I wonder how far someone is able to get in building a bit of muscle, and with that a bit more strength and muscle endurance with interval-type bodyweight exercises. That's all I can do at the moment, with no jumping (my lower neightbour would hate me) and no chance of fixing a pullup bar or similar (walls and door frames are too instable). At the moment I'm doing old bodyrock workouts, and honestly, I enjoy the fun-factor of them which is important as well.
After about a month I at least have visible shoulder muscles, and a very round and present bum - at least when I flex it. But of course I cannot always flex it.
I know about convict conditioning, and startbodyweight, but I find those rather dull even though a progressive programme would be better.
As far as building muscle you need to provide a progressively demanding stimulus with adequate training volume.
There are many ways to progress an exercise other than simply adding weight. With body-weight you can add repetitions, you can add sets (which adds to the total work volume), you can modify the exercise technique to increase the relative difficulty (one example of this would be going from a wall pushup to a knee pushup to a full pushup in that all of these involve pressing muscles but the exercise becomes more demanding going through that progression and so this could simulate added resistance).
And then of course you can switch from bilateral to unilateral versions of some bodyweight exercises to also increase demands.
As long as you are doing enough work and creating enough of a challenge you are providing the stimulus to build muscle (of course you also need building blocks to create that muscle).
For Strength -- it depends on how we measure strength.
You will certainly get stronger at the movements you are training, and I'd expect some carryover to exercises which have similarities to the exercises you currently do.
But just for discussion purposes we tend to have different ways of measuring strength, in that some gym goers might use the leg press to measure lower body strength whereas most powerlifters would use the squat to measure strength, and someone who can leg press 800 might not be able to squat 200 because of the substantial difference in skill requirements between the two.
And it doesn't make one measurement more valid than the other, it's just that we tend to define strength in terms of whatever exercise we use to get us stronger.
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popping in to say thank you for the Convict conditioning recommend, looks like an amazing read!
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Thanks @SideSteel
Yes, I try to make things more difficult for me all the time. I'm not quite there yet for proper pushups but I throw in a few one armed ones every now and then, or wide or narrow. With legs I try to do one-legged squats. At the moment I can at least go down slowly on one leg. Not up yet but I'm sure I'll get there eventually. So yes, I do divert from the workouts by using my own level. I make changes anyway for when skipping or otherwise jumping is involved.0 -
Thanks @SideSteel
Yes, I try to make things more difficult for me all the time. I'm not quite there yet for proper pushups but I throw in a few one armed ones every now and then, or wide or narrow. With legs I try to do one-legged squats. At the moment I can at least go down slowly on one leg. Not up yet but I'm sure I'll get there eventually. So yes, I do divert from the workouts by using my own level. I make changes anyway for when skipping or otherwise jumping is involved.
Explosive movements aren't required at all for hypertrophy or strength, but they do get you better at skipping and jumping and changing directions rapidly, so if those fit your goals then it is important but otherwise not so much.0 -
What are the best ways to strength train when you have limited ability to lift. I had a major surgery on my ribcage so I’m not supposed to lift more than 30 lbs ever. For exercise I’m mostly just walking but I would really like to get some core and arm strength back.0
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