Ask an Exercise Science major anything

[markgeorgeevans]

^^ More protein bro, you need about 1g per lb of body weight. Your workout plan is eehhhhhh theres no periodization, and 90% upper body lifts. I would suggest getting on a program that is central around getting stronger with the main lifts with some accessory work to make that happen.

Can I still do this and keep juicing and still get results?

[y0lked]

Can I still do this and keep juicing and still get results?

Juicing provides no complete protein, youll need to supplement with whey if you expect to build any muscle. When you dont eat protein the body will not enter protein synthesis and remodeling of the muscle (hypertrophy) will not occur. By replacing entire days with juicing, you are essentially blunting the response to the resistance training completely, thus making it very difficult to make gains.

If you want the benefit from juicing, I would suggest carb cycling. Where on your off days your macros and calories are lower than on training days, and the sources of food come mainly from juice (however, not 100%) so that you can stay lean and still make gains.

If you were to do this, you would take your target calories (ex: BMR +300= 2500, this would be optimal for a lean bulk and these are simply fictitious numbers)

2500 cals on training days (80g fat, BW in protein and the rest carbs)
2250 cals on non training days (80g fat, BW in protein and the rest carbs)

Essentially on the non-training days you would eat the same as training days, however replace your carbs with the juice macros. Collectively you would still be below the training day macros, get the benefits from juicing, and allow you to continue to make gains.

[WeekEarly]

Thank you so much for making this thread a thing.

I was watching Kinobody's video he released on YouTube just 2 days ago and I was wondering if it's true that training twice a week can build a great body? Is it better than more days per week? What are the pros and cons?

[aali237]

So i am trying to cut down to 190lb without losing too much strength and muscle, but strength more importantly. Recently i lost 10 pounds and I am at 230lb and i lost a lot of strength. I am 5'10. I would like to know the appropriate calorie per day and macros and micros i would need to achieve this goal. Currently, exercise wise; I am doing 531 Big But Boring, but also pylometrics twice per week and I play basketball a couple times per week.

[y0lked]

Thank you so much for making this thread a thing.

I was watching Kinobody's video he released on YouTube just 2 days ago and I was wondering if it's true that training twice a week can build a great body? Is it better than more days per week? What are the pros and cons?

No its just a gimmick.

The muscle responds to a workout for abotu 72 hours and then the rate of protein synthesis tails off. Therefore only training 2x per week the muscle is not getting enough stimulis and the response is not as great. Longer workouts (trying to do more work in only 2 days) decreases performance, which decreases the response to the workout.... less gains. Less time being active= less fat burning. Even the ACSM recommends training 3x per week for basic health benefits related to obesity and cholesterol etc.

If I had to come up with a pro to working out 2x per week it would be that your body would "feel fresh" and maybe mentally you could go harder when you actually worked out?? It would be really really hard to overtrain lifting 2x per week even going to failure (unless you did lots and lots of eccentric negatives).

Why it may "work for some people" is basically beginners can do almost ANYTHING and get gains as long as they are consistent. And this is a plan that could give someone consistency. By no means is it optimal tho.

[FMLMOMENT]

Hey man I've been lifting for a solid three weeks , I wouldn't say I'm in bad shape for starting out but , I noticed on my squats and deadlifts I get winded on hitting sets for reps I sometimes take a 5-8 rest in between reps because my body is so exhausted. Any words of advice you could give a novice like me. I'd like to increase my speed of training without sacrificing my good form . Thanks

[y0lked]

Hey man I've been lifting for a solid three weeks , I wouldn't say I'm in bad shape for starting out but , I noticed on my squats and deadlifts I get winded on hitting sets for reps I sometimes take a 5-8 rest in between reps because my body is so exhausted. Any words of advice you could give a novice like me. I'd like to increase my speed of training without sacrificing my good form . Thanks

Thats completely normal. As you get stronger you will recruit more muscle fibers, which will increase blood pressure. You will also be taxing the muscle more as you progress causing stress to the body. These are all GOOD things and a sure sign that you are progressing well. You will adapt and you will be able to reduce your rest times eventually.

If it is really impacting your training there are a couple of solutions you can do.

1) use less weight and do more sets. We can calculate total volume in a workout by multiplying reps x weight x sets. So even if you drop the weight a little, if you increase the number of sets and decrease the rest time you can actually do MORE work than before.

2) force yourself to take <5 minute rests and push through the fatigue.

3) continue to rest as normal, but drop the rest between sets on your accessory lifts to <60 seconds. This will train a different energy system and allow for adaptations to allow you to train faster.

Just remember, you dont need to rest longer than 5 minutes between sets. You can restore 80% of your creatine stores in under 5 minutes.

[FMLMOMENT]

Thank man I really appreciate it ! I'm sore today but at least I can get out sitting posistion on my own power . I'll definitely harness this advice to my advantage , thanks again

[raul693]

How does swimming help push your muscles? I know it's a full body workout that you won't get muscle growth from swimming, but if you swim hard can you at least expect to keep your gains?

Right now I'm sticking to calisthenics and swimming mainly, but it's easier for me to do more of the latter. I'm very happy with my progress with bodyweight training which has led me to gain some decent muscle, but being a small guy I don't wanna lose what little mass I have to the pool.

Oh, I'm 1.66m-61Kg so my physique is more soccer player than any other type of athlete, but I still wanna get more muscle mass.

[y0lked]

Thank man I really appreciate it ! I'm sore today but at least I can get out sitting posistion on my own power . I'll definitely harness this advice to my advantage , thanks again

no problem! Happy to help!

How does swimming help push your muscles? I know it's a full body workout that you won't get muscle growth from swimming, but if you swim hard can you at least expect to keep your gains?

Right now I'm sticking to calisthenics and swimming mainly, but it's easier for me to do more of the latter. I'm very happy with my progress with bodyweight training which has led me to gain some decent muscle, but being a small guy I don't wanna lose what little mass I have to the pool.

Oh, I'm 1.66m-61Kg so my physique is more soccer player than any other type of athlete, but I still wanna get more muscle mass.

Ok so there are light activities (cardio-types) which place a very low load on the muscle (<10% 1rm) and then there is weight lifting which places a much much higher load on the muscle (<40% 1rm minimum) which places a much different stress on the muscle.

There is mechanical stress and metabolic stress. Endurance activities are low mechanical and high metabolic. Weight lifting is high mechanical and moderate metabolic. Muscle hypertrophy adaptations mainly occur through mechanical stress. So swimming will not place a high mechanical stress on the muscle unless you are doing all out full speed swims for very short distances. Even then, the pattern of the movement is not conducive to muscle hypertrophy.

Can you keep all of your gains with swimming? No, not likely. You might be able to maintain some of the capillary density, enzymatic properties and glycogen levels in the muscle, however most research shows >75% of a 1rm for 3-5 sets per week is necissary to maintain muscle mass at or below maintenance calories. Would it be better than nothing? Absolutely. However, my question is.... how come you do weight lifting? 45 mins a day for 3 days a week is all it would take. Wake up at 5 am if you have to. I am such a busy person that I wake up at 4 am every morning to get to the gym at 5 am.

[JamiroVega]

When I do certain chest exercises (bench press) I can't feel my chest actually working. I can only feel my arms doing the work. No matter how far apart I space my hands, whether I use a barbell or dumbells, or attempt to flex my pecs I still can't seem to feel my chest doing the work. After the exercise my arms fatigue and become sore but my chest is left uneffected.

If I do flyes or cable crossovers, however, I can feel my chest performing perfectly. But I don't seem to get any effect from pressing exercises. I have followed others advise but still seem to have no luck in getting my chest to performing in bench pressing. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[raul693]

However, my question is.... how come you do weight lifting? 45 mins a day for 3 days a week is all it would take. Wake up at 5 am if you have to. I am such a busy person that I wake up at 4 am every morning to get to the gym at 5 am.

Thanks for the quick reply! I sort of knew that swimming doesn't do that much for your muscles (I do try to push myself quite a bit), but it's great to get the real reasoning behind it :-)

That said, I don't have any time constraints that forbid me to lift weights, but I'm just not a gym guy. Don't get me wrong, I love working out, hitting the bars and all that calisthenics has done for me, I guess I'll just have to raise the difficulty level on that.

Anyhow, like I said I'm more into a soccer player physique with little added bulk since I also play rugby, but thanks for your input!

[y0lked]

When I do certain chest exercises (bench press) I can't feel my chest actually working. I can only feel my arms doing the work. No matter how far apart I space my hands, whether I use a barbell or dumbells, or attempt to flex my pecs I still can't seem to feel my chest doing the work. After the exercise my arms fatigue and become sore but my chest is left uneffected.

If I do flyes or cable crossovers, however, I can feel my chest performing perfectly. But I don't seem to get any effect from pressing exercises. I have followed others advise but still seem to have no luck in getting my chest to performing in bench pressing. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Believe it or not a lot of people have this problem. I had this problem when i first started lifting as well. It all boils down to either your technique or a muscle imbalance. If your chest is weak then you will contort your body to use more delts and tris. In order to combat that you can pre-fatigue those muscles so that when you bench they are not as forcefull and thus in order to move the weight you will recruit more pec muscle fibers.

Alternatively, if you feel like you just dont have a solid mind/muscle connection to your pecs, you can pre-fatigue the pecs in order to recruit more pec muscle fibers once they are warmed up and somewhat taxed.

As far as technique goes, check to see if you raise your shoulder blades when you bench (like a shrug motion) this will certainly harm your ability to use the pecs. Post a video if you can so I can help you further. Regardless of how you decide to attack the bench press, on the days you work chest, youll need to get some isolation work in so that the pecs can have even development. Find an exercise that you can really feel the pecs in, that is somewhat similar to the bench press, and go ham on it. I suggest pushups. 100 rest pause pushups should be a good place to start. Each day add 5-10 more pushups to the end goal.

[Actimex]

Hi soo i have 2 questions that ive ben coonfused about for a while. 1. So when i perform a RDL i can only feel it in my left leg but eventually feel it in both but still more in my left leg. My forms fine but if i RDL and twist right i can then totally feel it in my right leg. Im thinking maybe a muscle inbalance because my GF also only gets it in one leg but mainly in her right leg? both beginners only 8 weeks in. 2. This one is weird but when i OHP i get bad knee pain im currently deloading to see if that will help but my forms good continuosly checking iit could it possibly be overworking them? Thanks for help greatly needed.

[MarzMH]

hey m8s. ive been training for about 7month snow only focusing on the main lifts. now that my lifts are up, S:405 B:255 D:455. i wanted to focus on hypertrophy now and be in good shape. are there any good programs for the pecs and shoulders that i con hop on. they seem really underdeveloped to me. thnx m8s. any naughty advice would be appreciated.

[y0lked]

hey m8s. ive been training for about 7month snow only focusing on the main lifts. now that my lifts are up, S:405 B:255 D:455. i wanted to focus on hypertrophy now and be in good shape. are there any good programs for the pecs and shoulders that i con hop on. they seem really underdeveloped to me. thnx m8s. any naughty advice would be appreciated.

hey man real nice numbers there. Really ANY program that focuses on hitting each muscle 2x per week.

suggestions:
Upper/lower off upper/lower off off
Layne Nortons PHAT
PPL

Heres the PPL routine im on right now. It is very very taxing and training to failure is NOT suggested one bit. If you are to take on this program you will need to have your recovery plan on point and pick weights that are challenging yet not going to run you into the ground.

Push:
Bench
Military Press
Incline
Lateral Flys
Tricep Extensions

Pull:
underhand bb rows
weighted pullups
seated rows
deadlifts
ez bar curls

legs:
squat
leg press
glute thrusts
calf raises
glute ham raises

the routine is sectioned as 3 days (push, pull, legs) is considered a wave. two waves make up a week.

week 1 wave 1- everything= 3 sets of 5
week 1 wave 2- everything= 3 sets of 10
week 2 wave 1- everything= 3 sets of 8
week 2 wave 2- everything= 3 sets of 12
week 3 wave 1- same as w1 w1

and it continues like this for 4-6 weeks and then a deload week is performed where only one wave of 3 sets of 10 with 90% of the weight being used.

[y0lked]

Hi soo i have 2 questions that ive ben coonfused about for a while. 1. So when i perform a RDL i can only feel it in my left leg but eventually feel it in both but still more in my left leg. My forms fine but if i RDL and twist right i can then totally feel it in my right leg. Im thinking maybe a muscle inbalance because my GF also only gets it in one leg but mainly in her right leg? both beginners only 8 weeks in. 2. This one is weird but when i OHP i get bad knee pain im currently deloading to see if that will help but my forms good continuosly checking iit could it possibly be overworking them? Thanks for help greatly needed.

A video would totally help. However here are some concerns when I hear of a muscle that is not firing.

1) if you are twisting right does that even out your hips and shoulders? This sounds very much like a muscle imbalance caused by hip hike or offset hips. Do you have ANY back pain or prior history of back pain/injury?

Are you possibly using a mixed grip? Is one of your shoulders anteriorally rotated? Are both knees unlocked? Are your lats engaged? When a muscle does not fire during an exercise it is usually because it doesnt have to. And it wont have to if your body is compensating for the support during the range of motion with an alternative structure. When doing RDLs feel for another muscle group working that possibly shouldnt be (probably spinal erector and or quadratus lumborum, google these) .

2) Knee pain during OHP can be caused by locking out the knee and trying to engage the quads to maintain GRF through the press. Put a 2.5 or 5lb plate on the ground and do your next set with your heels on the plate and knees bent. Also, make sure your lockout position is slightly behind the ears and not over head in front of your face.

[Actimex]

A video would totally help. However here are some concerns when I hear of a muscle that is not firing.

1) if you are twisting right does that even out your hips and shoulders? This sounds very much like a muscle imbalance caused by hip hike or offset hips. Do you have ANY back pain or prior history of back pain/injury?

Are you possibly using a mixed grip? Is one of your shoulders anteriorally rotated? Are both knees unlocked? Are your lats engaged? When a muscle does not fire during an exercise it is usually because it doesnt have to. And it wont have to if your body is compensating for the support during the range of motion with an alternative structure. When doing RDLs feel for another muscle group working that possibly shouldnt be (probably spinal erector and or quadratus lumborum, google these) .

2) Knee pain during OHP can be caused by locking out the knee and trying to engage the quads to maintain GRF through the press. Put a 2.5 or 5lb plate on the ground and do your next set with your heels on the plate and knees bent. Also, make sure your lockout position is slightly behind the ears and not over head in front of your face.

Thanks for the advice about the OHP will definatly give it a go. Also wondering when bending the knees can you still squeeze your glutes properly to avoid rounding? don't wont to hurt my back obviously lol.

As for the RDL i always make sure to push the bar back using my lats and don't experiance back pain at all making sure my back stays beutral as im lowering. I also have no injurys neither does my gf though who also attempted the exercise yet only feels it in one leg hands down while i feel it more in one leg but still both. Knees are also just unlocked but no more and i don't use mixed grip still sturggling to figure out the problem as it would be a odd coincedence that we both have an injury but thanks your help.

[y0lked]

Thanks for the advice about the OHP will definatly give it a go. Also wondering when bending the knees can you still squeeze your glutes properly to avoid rounding? don't wont to hurt my back obviously lol.

As for the RDL i always make sure to push the bar back using my lats and don't experiance back pain at all making sure my back stays beutral as im lowering. I also have no injurys neither does my gf though who also attempted the exercise yet only feels it in one leg hands down while i feel it more in one leg but still both. Knees are also just unlocked but no more and i don't use mixed grip still sturggling to figure out the problem as it would be a odd coincedence that we both have an injury but thanks your help.

I'm glad you don't have any back pain. Squeezing the glutes a bit will help maintain proper hip position, however too much and you will force yourself into hyper-extension of the spine. Just be careful of that. If there's no injury history and no body positioning issue, then it has to be a strength imbalance or a coordination issue. That is completely normal for beginners. Both will straighten themselves out as you get more familiar with working out.

If its a coordination issue then it will resolve itself over time as the weight gets heavier. If its a strength issue then it just means that one side is not working as hard as the other thus you cant "feel it" working. Just as a tip, make sure youre pushing your hips as far back as possible to put a nice strentch on the hammies as you lower the weight. Keep your chin tucked slightly to prevent hyperextending the cervical spine.

[sandmaz]

hey , i wanna ask about platz squat , where the heel is close together when we are squatting , is this squat stance can stress the knee ?

[y0lked]

hey , i wanna ask about platz squat , where the heel is close together when we are squatting , is this squat stance can stress the knee ?

yeah it definitely can because in order to get to depth on the squat it will require substantially more knee flexion (knee bend) in combination with more ankle dorsiflexion. Its common to suggest that in order to prevent damage to the soft tissues of the knee not to have ankle dorsiflexion such that the knee moves past the toes.

Also, good luck getting into that position, youll most likely be limited by the amount of dorsiflexion you can get as your Achilles and calves are stretched to a ridiculous point.

[sandmaz]

yeah it definitely can because in order to get to depth on the squat it will require substantially more knee flexion (knee bend) in combination with more ankle dorsiflexion. Its common to suggest that in order to prevent damage to the soft tissues of the knee not to have ankle dorsiflexion such that the knee moves past the toes.

Also, good luck getting into that position, youll most likely be limited by the amount of dorsiflexion you can get as your Achilles and calves are stretched to a ridiculous point.

So this means this is a bad exercise to do , especially for knee , and i should abandon it for good and stick to back and front squat ?

by the way thanks for the input man , i really appreciate your feedback

[y0lked]

So this means this is a bad exercise to do , especially for knee , and i should abandon it for good and stick to back and front squat ?

by the way thanks for the input man , i really appreciate your feedback

Yeah man theres no reason to put yourself at extra risk. Your quads will build fine through squats!

I enjoy helping out!

[leanx]

And thank you so much man for making this thread.

an irritating problem regarding biceps ....my body is well built... i have been working out for 5-6 months and my body is great .....but I cant gain mass in my biceps bcuz I cant do biceps curls properly ....while I am curling with bars,, supinated dumbells with a shift grip....ez bar or whatever ....I dont feel any soreness or any pump in my biceps or maybe an unnoticeable pump.....tho I see hammer curls giving good results....I feel like there is something immobilizing me from curling at some point .....most likely to be my forearm....maybe forearm fatigue.....I just cant diagnose the problem...is it a problem with mind muscle connection I guess I dont have a good one tho. and thanks in advance!

[y0lked]

And thank you so much man for making this thread.

an irritating problem regarding biceps ....my body is well built... i have been working out for 5-6 months and my body is great .....but I cant gain mass in my biceps bcuz I cant do biceps curls properly ....while I am curling with bars,, supinated dumbells with a shift grip....ez bar or whatever ....I dont feel any soreness or any pump in my biceps or maybe an unnoticeable pump.....tho I see hammer curls giving good results....I feel like there is something immobilizing me from curling at some point .....most likely to be my forearm....maybe forearm fatigue.....I just cant diagnose the problem...is it a problem with mind muscle connection I guess I dont have a good one tho. and thanks in advance!

usually when you cant get a pump or feeling in a muscle one of two things is happening

1) terrible muscle imbalance causing recruitment of other muscles
or
2) overuse of the muscle which inhibits recovery and the muscle just goes numb

first look at your bicep load (all pulling exercises and direct bicep work) and make sure thats not completely over the top if youre doing more than
10 direct sets of biceps a week on top of 12-18 sets of back work then you can definitely be overworking the muscle.

if your volume is fine then look at recovery. the bicep is a very small muscle and can adapt quickly but if youre in a big caloric deficit or carbs are simply too low then you need to address your nutrition.

if those first two things check out then its a muscle imbalance. stop all direct bicep work and replace with a mixture of these exercises:

replace overhand rows with underhand rows (supinated)
chinups with 2 second hold at top
machine preacher curls (not dumbbell or barbell, we need tension at the top of the rep)
incline curls

check back with me when you figure out what is causing the issue brah.

[Bama55]

Started back working out last week. After doing workout out chest a few days later i was super sore and limited range of motion. Now a week later I have no pain except when a do side lateral raises my chest gets too tight to go past half way with light pain upper chest on inner pec and right where it connects to shoulder.. Do you think I might have injured something or still recovering?

Any input would be appreciated, thanks!

[y0lked]

Started back working out last week. After doing workout out chest a few days later i was super sore and limited range of motion. Now a week later I have no pain except when a do side lateral raises my chest gets too tight to go past half way with light pain upper chest on inner pec and right where it connects to shoulder.. Do you think I might have injured something or still recovering?

Any input would be appreciated, thanks!

As for now I would say it sounds like a mild strain. Definitely easy to push too hard when coming back after some time off lol

let it rest, you can use ice as needed but dont try to over stretch it or do pushups to get it to loosen up. A strain basically means that some of the myofillaments in the muscle or tendon have been damaged. The muscle tightens up in order to protect itself from any concentric loading that could cause more damage.

Give it a solid week, if you dont see a lot of relief and range of motion increase you could have a partial tear. However, since you didnt mention that it happened at a specific time or a failure of a rep its not likely to be a tear.

[Bama55]

As for now I would say it sounds like a mild strain. Definitely easy to push too hard when coming back after some time off lol

let it rest, you can use ice as needed but dont try to over stretch it or do pushups to get it to loosen up. A strain basically means that some of the myofillaments in the muscle or tendon have been damaged. The muscle tightens up in order to protect itself from any concentric loading that could cause more damage.

Give it a solid week, if you dont see a lot of relief and range of motion increase you could have a partial tear. However, since you didnt mention that it happened at a specific time or a failure of a rep its not likely to be a tear.

Wow thanks for the info man!

[y0lked]

Wow thanks for the info man!

no problem bro!

[MBoux2000]

Hey man! Are you still answering this thread? Can I ask you a question? Thanks.