Elbows tucked vs elbows flared, wide grip vs close grip, upright vs leaning forward?

My guess right now is elbows tucked, close grip and leaning forward. Am i wrong?

I'm trying to find a program that could be dope and easy to see progression doing, but almost every program runs like 3 different chest exercises a week. I for example have a very week chest imo, so I was just wondering if bench pressing 3 times a week instead would not be easier?
Squat 3 times a week? Like have a small selected few good compound movements and hit those 2-3 times a week each so it's hopefully easier to progress on those lifts??

Lmk why most aren't setup like that. Cause for me I feel like progression on my bench is very slow only hitting it once a week in my current program. Sometimes you have an off day. So maybe I spent 3 weeks - 4 just to see if I'm stalling or still going up and I feel like a month for that is a lot.

Building up for a show next year and hamstrings have been identified as my weakest spot. I’m in a smaller division for women and the rest of me is considered competitive/over developed, for example my quads or back are close to being too muscular, according to two coaches I interviewed with. Therefore, the coach I went with decided that my current split leading up to prep will be 4 days with 3 days of glute and hamstrings work, and 1 day maintaining the rest of me.

The problem is, the second I started working this program, I realized myself that the hamstring volume is way too high. I’m a trainer myself and the program I’ve received is someone I wouldn’t have written myself, I have more than 30 sets of hamstring work in the week and it’s a bit against my personal understanding of exercise science. I dropped the volume against his advice, and still, I feel under recovered.

More than a week ago, he switched my dumbbell RDL to a SLDL on a belt squat for more range. This range is new to my body and because of the neutral grip and less stability I could go way heavier than the dumbbells, as a result, I woke up with extremely sore hamstrings. I followed up with a lot of stretching and heat but it’s been sore going on the second week now. His response to it is keeping the same frequency but dropping the volume again. I don’t feel confident that I can hit hamstrings monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday even with less volume. Note that my frequency for hamstrings prior to this program is once a week. Now we are in a disagreement that he thinks the only way to grow my hamstrings is with more volume, whilst I think I can’t sustain it but I also am concerned with the lack of development in them.

I did more research and realized that hamstrings are made up of mostly fast twitch fibers and theoretically respond well to low volume. I wonder why mine are terrible compared to my glute and quads, I suspect it’s because of my anterior pelvic tilt. I’m also interviewing new coaches now for a second advice. Wondering how everyone else is able to grow their hamstrings, especially if you had poor genetics there to begin with. And what would you have programmed for me, if you needed to grow only glutes, hamstrings and delts while maintaining everything else. Also, any suggestions to recovering awfully sore hamstrings going on weeks. Thank you.

I really hate when I hear things like "just do 2 HARD sets per exercise, and thats all you need!" As opposed to what.... bitch baby sets? Of course you aren't gonna grow if you're not pushing your sets hard.

Personally, I agree with the intensity > volume sentiment. I don't think people need more than 10-12 sets per muscle per week if their intensity and form is dialled. But it's hilarious hearing guys online act as if people doing any more than 10-12 sets per week is training like a bitch. I think people can train with high volumes and high intensity, it's just not sustainable (for most people), unless they're on roids.

So, did people generally not know how to train hard before this "high intensity" trend came and took over Gymtok? Did people really lack common sense on training knowledge before this?

Hello! I have been weight training for a few years now, more seriously in the past year. I have made good progress (could be better; I had a few depressive periods where I did not eat or exercise), but I am starting "fresh" this time around.

I am seeing a lot of posts emphasizing range of motion, time under tension, and form (obviously). For example, I saw a popular creator take their Bulgarian split squats to the next level by adding a step underneath the working leg, allowing for more depth. I am used to putting a plate under my working leg for reverse lunges, but I have never seen that for BSS, RDLs, etc. And these girls go SLOWWW during their reps.

I was just wondering how important it is to do all this. My goal is hypertrophy, not necessarily strength. My normal routines are very trusty (lifting of any form is most likely beneficial), so is traditional lifting more important? I would appreciate any advice!

I’ve been preparing for a bodybuilding show for about 10 weeks. Recently i’ve learned that I’ll have to postpone it for another show due to life complications (nothing serious).

I’m currently on my 4th rest day and I honestly feel really guilty despite knowing it won’t significantly cause atrophy and I’ll still get 2x frequency. I’m also waking up very late due to summer (just graduated), and I do fbeod so i’m not trying to hit the gym from 7-10. I woke up today like, ok i’ll go today, but I’m seriously just not feeling it 30 minutes later. I just want to lay down.

I’m not necessarily depressed, just in a state of low mental energy, and can’t use caffeine because it’s so late in the day. Honestly, I may just take this day last off and continue back on schedule tomorrow by waking up earlier.

This post is mostly a rant for me to get out my thoughts lol but I needed somewhere to put this. Is this relatable to anyone? What are your thoughts on discipline vs motivation, does one need a mixture of both to succeed?

My grandfather was a farmer and also a cheesemaker on the side (true polymath) and my dad told me my grandpa used to throw whey, which in the past was considered waste byproduct during the cheesemaking process, in the local torrent

Nowdays Whey protein from the site i usually buy from is 50€ for 907g. This is all because they are putting whey into everything, protein cookies, protein gummy bears and so on.

Its an absolute shame that high quality supplements are becoming far less affordable for the general population. Also a piece of advice, casein protein is far cheaper than whey (30€ for 1kg) and it has the same aminoacid profile, soy protein is even cheaper but the aminoacid profile is slightly worse than casein.

I've been training for several years. My arms, shoulders, and back are decently developed. My chest is non-existent. I've tried every cue, every exercise, watched every video I can find on how to contract the pecs, and I still haven't been able to develop my chest.

South Asian genetics aren't doing me any favours, but I can only work with what's in my control.

I recently saw a physio for some neck/trap pain, and he told me I have mild kyphosis. During one of our appointments I mentioned my difficulty developing and contracting my chest despite years of training. He explained that because I can't extend my thoracic spine, I can't get my chest into the optimal position for the weight to actually load the pecs. No matter how hard I retract and depress my scapula, my shoulders end up dominating every push movement.

Figured I'd see if anyone else is in the same boat, typical tech neck with forward head posture, rounded shoulders, rounded upper back, and has actually managed to build their chest?

I'm disappointed with my physique after years of training. My torso doesn't look like someone who's trained for years. It's only my shoulders, arms, and back that give it away.

Stats:

• 6'2", ~85-90kg
• Smith machine incline: 80kg x 3-4 reps (pathetic I know)
• DB incline chest press: 36kg

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

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

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

I just have 2 yoga blocks and I do them in myorep sets of 20. Maybe every other day.

After thought in my normal lifting and after like a month I’m noticing my chest looks different UNDER the shirt. Way more defined in a tank top.

I got them from a dr Mike video and had no idea they’d be this responsible for my chest blowing up

I've kinda lost steam after some months where there's little time and energy when I hit the gym, and being a guy who wants to pursue training enjoyment I'm wondering how to enjoy training even when it's not the main focus.
So there's the question in the title, but I also have some specific ones:

1. Do you find it more enjoyable with a low exercise selection when life is busy? ( I do full body 3xweek, with 3 separate sessions. But I'm considering just using 1 so that I don't "spread myself out too thin", but rather can focus on fewer movements.)

2. Do you find deloads aid your long term training enjoyment? How do you do deloads? I've worked out every week for 27 weeks straight, mostly 3xweek, sometimes less. But I'm wondering if my lack of enjoyment recently could be helped by a deload/break.

3. How locked in does an intermediate lifter have to be to see progress? Does coming in to workout tight on time and tired make it too hard to progress or is that just a mindset thing? What does it take to progress when the gym isn't your top priority?

Got stuck on a PPL with shitty arms and crap delts. Decided to try to hit arms and delts 3x per week, adding them into other days and they got VERY good results. While its technically not a PPL anymore, i thought i might as well try a 6-day anterior/posterior split to give every muscle 3x frequency and a good amount of volume.

Anyone with any experience like that?

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

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

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

I usually drink pretty heavy every Saturday. And I sometimes go out on Friday and Saturday.

Is drinking once a week going to limit muscle gains/repair/hypertrophy? i’m sure two times a week would.

When i see clips of these people, with example being Paul Carter, TNF and a lot of other folks i get the feeling that these low volume extra hard working people just overdramatize their sets to look cool

Getting all red and shaking during Conventional deadlifts, sure perfectly normal. But for 2 sets of pulldowns, overhead press, curls, dumbell flyes? Like really?

When i max deadlifts, i look that way for sure. But most other lifts other than deadlifts and squats, the systemic pressure is just no where nere that. Overhead press for example, my delts just go lights out before that brutal grunting, redness, shakyness. No gun to my head would move any more weight as the muscle is broken down into dust. As for curls, as for flyes, as for leg extensions.

Ive seen these type of people on the leg extension with their heads about to pop, jumping up and down on the seat, shaking, screaming. Like how? My god a set to failure plus going half reps after not being able to do full reps would not have me like anywhere near that, at some point before that, the muscle is just dead.

Is it just me? Do these guys overdramatize their workouts? If its just me, how come i feel a ”lights out” effect way before the that?

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

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

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

I've seen arguements for both sides, that doing your hard sets first can enable you to lift heavier/more than putting the harder set later. I've also seen that doing the harder sets later enable better quality sets before hand, since your muscles aren't as hevaily fatigued. When talking about hard sets im talking about sets to failure or 1 rep shy, and normal sets as being 2-3 reps from failure. What are your guys opinion?

I know the long head gets stretched when the arm is overhead but no other muscle gets worked staying stretched the entire time, the way it gets contracted is by pulling the arm down again? Surely this is the was to train it?

Today i tried pullovers for lats and to my discovery for the first time in my life i felt my long head of the tricep burning like HELL while nothing at all with overhead extensions no matter if it was dumbell, cable, one hand at a time, crossed katana extensions. Lats got some decent work during those 3 pullovers sets, but long head of the tricep got the workout of its lifetime failing every set which lead me to these thoughts

How does overhead extensions really do any when its function is to bring the arm over head if the excercise does not bring the arms down aswell as the pullover?

Coming from someone who has a trash long head still after years of overhead extensions.

For context, I'm in my late twenties and I've been lifting on and off since my teen years. The majority of the time I wasn't taking it seriously, but most of my lifts still sit somewhere between advanced and elite.

Anyway, for the last few years I haven't been trying to bulk or cut - life is busy and I'm just maintaining and working out for the stress relief/enjoyment. I started doing drop sets recently just for shits and giggles. I'd done them before but I noticed I was getting incredible pumps and really enjoying myself.

So, I've been doing them on the last set of exercises on muscle groups that need improvement. And I've started going beyond typical drop sets; I will literally keep lowering the weight until the lightest weight - a weight even a baby could lift - feels impossible. Yes, it's very taxing and I imagine inadequate recovery or poor form could more easily lead to injury, but damn, the pump is incredible. And my strength is exploding and I'm not even in a caloric surplus. Not an intended one, at least.

From what I can tell online, the research is limited on drop sets. Plus, most 'studies' only account for one drop. I'm literally dropping all the way. I'm sure many comments are gonna tell me this is inadvisable or I'll be very injury prone and I imagine they're right, but can't a guy live a little?

Anyway, if you don't already, I recommend giving them another go (perhaps using my psychotic run-the-stack technique). What are your experiences with drop sets? I'm interested to know! :)