Haha, both! But I'm far past the beginning phase, I think. Over the past couple years, I've put on like 50 pounds of muscle. But intense workouts can still really kick my ass, and I think it's due to poor conditioning. At least that's my guess. Yesterday I did deadlifts for the first time ever, since I want to add them to my routine, and I've been napping all day.

It's probably from shocking your body. It will adapt.

with a regular job and a lot of stuff besides work and working out I will never be able to tell
if my body would need so much sleep - I just can't give it the opportunity to find out…

Yeah, I'm a student on a stipend for the summer, so maybe my problem is just that I have too few obligations .

Just got a two month gym membership after two months of almost not lifting at all (with the exception of a one week trial at a gym). Feels fantastic. I've definitely lost some ability on the powerlifting - could only deadlift 275lbs as opposed to 300lbs before. Lifted about 5lbs lighter on all the freeweight stuff, as well. Have to start running again (which I also haven't done in two months), not looking forward to that at all.

As for the getting tired thing, yeah, it's happened a few times for me. When I went back to the gym after a long break the other day I was completely exhausted.

That's hardly a loss for not lifting for two months, dystopia! Also, doing cardio will help to increase your working capacity when lifting - especially in powerlifting. I'm 6"2 and 180 and on the inexhaustible quest to gain more weight (started at 148 lbs when I first started powerlifting - I want to be 210 by the end of this year and 250 is a life-time goal) so I avoid cardio as much as possible, but I labor/do concrete work as my job and that counts as cardio I think because it's all endurance.

All in all, going to the gym when you're already tired isn't easy. Just prioritize rest! It seems to be the determining factor in powerlifting, versus body building which is all diet. Not to say diet or rest are mutually exclusive with those training methods, but when you're lifting heavier than fuck it seems like getting a good nights rest does the most for me. And anyone that wants to get big needs to fucking EAT, etc.

Does anyone do Zercher squats? I incorporated them into my routine two weeks ago as a way to do a front squat without putting strain on my wrists but they still end up killing the crease of my arm to the point of bruising. It reminds me of how I felt when I first started to do regular back squats except ten times worse.

do you do any training for wrist strength?

Health/Diet related query here:

So it's been just over 2 months since I joined gym. My goal was primarily to do cardio and few exercises to reduce some of the neuropathic pain (from a previous illness) I get from time to time. I think I've lost around 2-2.5 kg without following a proper diet. Of late, I've been having a predominantly fruit+veg diet and it's kinda low on carbs. I've also been getting these, I think, hypoglycemic headaches. Does getting these headaches actually indicate that there's a calorie deficit in my body? In that case, that's a good thing, right? I don't know how to balance my diet.

I don't do any wrist training. I always figured that by regularly doing compound lifts and free weights that miniscule areas like that would strengthen on their own, i.e deadlifts and grip strength.


Shouvince, try adding complex carbs and lean protein to your diet. Brown rice is the best complex carb IMO due to the balance between flavor and nutrition, but barley, quinoa, bulgur wheat, and whole grain bread is good as well. Just make sure it is whole grain and not whole wheat.

do they feel strong enough in all other exercises (e.g., false grip pull-ups, backhand push-ups)?

would be good if you knew whether it was just something about the way you're doing this one exercise, or a general weak point.

The only other times they feel uncomfortable (not necessarily painful) are during hang cleans, but no where near as bad as they are during front squats. I feel like my elbows may not be high enough when I front squat, but I'm not sure. My wrists aren't too weak in general so it must be a form thing.

If you feel your wrists that much during front squads you probably indeed don't have your elbows raised enough.
When i do front squats the hands (better: fingers) are mainly just for stabilization and don't really carry any actual
weight as the bar some kind of rests on my upper chest / anterior deltoids (can't put it in words in english so good, sorry…).

as a native English speaker I can't think of any more accurate words.

I've never really paid attention to those kind of things but now I will. Thanks.

That's what I figured, I'll have to try them some more after I get out of my heavy weight/low rep cycle.

Weighed myself the other day, down to 200lbs compared to 240 6 months ago when I decided to start exercising and stop looking like an overstuffed tube of lard. Was building muscle during this process, so that's probably more like 50lbs of fat gone at least. Still have to lose 15 pounds of fat at least to be where I want to be, but I don't think that's that bad, especially considering I took a two month break from weight lifting and running and my only real source of exercise was going on lots of hikes and having a job that required me to be on my feet all the time. Going for my first run in a long time in a little while, not looking forward to it at all (but I know that I need to get back into it). I'd say the worst part of losing weight - not that I'm complaining, of course - is that I now need to entirely replace my wardrobe with money I don't really have.

Also, I have a question about free weight exercises. I've noticed this for a few exercises, especially for dumbbell curls and dumbbell bench. I know my muscles can handle more weight, but my wrist are holding me back from increasing the weight. Is there something I can do to strengthen my wrists so that they can handle it? Because of my break I can't do 50lbs dumbbell curls anymore and last time working up to it was brutal and took way too long.

googling wrist strengthening would be a fair start.
see what ones you like the sound of, get advice on whether or not they're a good idea.

there's always stuff like hand in a rice bucket, or using an elastic band or girls dumbell to curl the wrist (the kinda thing you'd do for wrist rehab), and no doubt grip-strength training helps, at least for the sort of static straight positions you're interested in.
since I started improving my hand flexibility I've particularly become a fan of backhand push-ups, though it's hard to gauge their value.

I'm going to the gym too, which is pretty much mandatory since i'm like 6'4 bordering 6'5 and only 154lbs... Yeah it's not much, been going for well over 3 months now and I can only see my arms grow a bit, i'm not particularly weak but I certainly don't look strong at all...

Pretty hard keeping up motivation when all you get is marginally more arm muscle and a loss of fat (started at 12%, back at 9-10% now)

what exercises are you doing, and have you been able to increase the weight at all?
what's your routine (how often do you work the same muscle group to failure)?



3 months isn't that long, especially for getting started.
maybe you'll always be one of those deceptively strong guys...body types n' all. maybe you just need to be patient. or maybe you need to focus more on some of the areas you consider indicative of strength.

Uhh, yeah, kinda, some weights have been close to being doubled almost, I started leg press at 70kg for example and had a fair amount of trouble with it, nowadays I do 123kg with the same amount of effort, really...

I do the "right" muscle groups, my routine is not the problem, my genetics are. I'm an ectomorph, long limbs, slim waist and a very fast metabolism, resulting in me struggling to put on weight, and if put on, keep it there



Well, everyone can reach practically every type of body as long as you have the build for it but you'll always have your weaknesses, you can train to look like Usain Bolt but you'll never be as fast as him, you can train to look like Cristiano Ronaldo but you'll never be as agile as him, really, it's in my genetics, i'm not strong as in muscle, but more as in force, i'm not exactly easy to topple and I have pretty strong legs (i'm also really fast for some reason)

I have a thin build, then again i'm only 18, a lot can still change, I still grow (teeny tiny bits) for example, perhaps the rest will come later...

Without the aid of steroids, you're looking at about 10 pounds of muscle growth in your first year. After that, you're looking at about 4-5 pounds a year. And that's if you don't get sick, injured, etc. Since your metabolism is very high, spend no more than 3 or 4 days in the gym per week. You grow between workouts, not during them. Stay away from sugar, too, since your body will churn through that like a hot knife through warm butter. Fat has more calories per gram anyway, so if you're looking to add weight, turn to fats rather than sugars. Add almond or other nut butters to protein shakes instead of fruit; butter or coconut oil in your coffee instead of sugar; make pancakes with coconut or almond flour instead of wheat, etc.

Anywho, if your weight is about the same, but your body fat has gone down, you've made significant progress.

My body weight and body fat both fluctuate heavily. I was 11% 1.5 weeks ago, last Monday I was 9.6% But if I go on a dinner rage now i'll be 11% by coming Monday, and if i'd train hard i'll be back at 9.5% the Monday after...

Water weight most likely. Never take what the scale says at face value, there are variables that work both ways.

Heard that before... This is confusing

also there is a measurement confidence interval with scales (or everything that measures something, they didn't invent the E logo behind each value without a reason).
Basically if you don't know statistics it can actually mean that the 9,6% and the 11% are in fact the same percentage, given the errors of the weighing equipment (i.e. 1.96 the standard deviation of the measurement inaccuracy)

I can see I've put on muscle but I didn't gain a pound...

is that heavily? sounds like margin of error to me.
what method is that accurate?



you've gained a visible amount of muscle in one week?
I very much doubt the accuracy of your observation.
memory and sight are dreadfully inaccurate.

Not in a week, basically 4 months.

Does anyone here powerlift? I know I asked this before but don't think it got much attention. Want to meet other strong metalheads.

I'm a strong metalhead. Powerlifting is cool and all, but only if you're on dat der frog tech.

What in the...

How much can you curl, bro? In all seriousness, we live close enough to each other. Let's just meet (literally meet, for the first time) up sometime, blare The Years of Decay, and move heavy shit against the force of gravity.

Can finally do bicep curls with 50lbs dumbells in each hand relatively comfortably. Did two sets of five today before having to drop to 45s for the next set. In a week or two I'll probably be able to get 8 reps for at least the first set. Feels good, been trying to get this point for a while now.

You do realize doing low reps of high weight builds virtually no visible mass whatsoever, right?

Drop sets starting with 40's/35's would be infinitely more effective if you're mostly weightlifting for aesthetics.

Like I said, I'm working up to higher reps. I did a third set with 45s and a fourth with 40s, both at 8 reps.

descending pyramid reps is also my favorite method. You're doing it right.

You gotta do both if you don't want to hit plateaus. Not that I would apply that philosophy to curls, anyway, since it's not a real lift

But anyway... high weight low reps puts you in myofibrillar hypertrophy (brand new muscle cells), and low weight high reps puts you in sarcoplasmic hypertrophy (pumping up the muscle cells you already have). With sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, you're going to hit a wall after a year or so. That's one of the reasons all the biggest bodybuilders are former powerlifters. If you're only in it for aesthetics and maintaining the muscle you already have, stick with a bodybuilding routine. Learn to lift real heavy weights for mass down the road.

got a citation for that? I can't find anything reliable (the only .edu source I saw cited a blog rather than science, and the blog itself offered no citations)

Nah, brah. There might be some applicable references if you look through the HST program (hypertrophic specific training). I ain't gonna try to track down references on my phone... I'm honestly just going on bro science and personal experience. Generally, when you see guys doing compound lifts with heavy weight and decent form, they're pretty big. Pretty simple formula for gains in my experience: eat a lot of protein, lift heavy weight (with actual lifts, not that isolation crap), rest every other day.

fair enough