Answering 11 Stupid Questions Seriously; Fitness Edition
I found these on r/Fitness in a tread called ‘Moronic Monday’. So some of these may not actually be stupid questions.
1. How many sets should you actually do on a bro split each day? Ex. Monday, arm day, how many sets should I be doing? I’m afraid of doing too little.
It depends on your training age. Someone with little lifting experience might only need a low volume of training to see results. A more experienced lifter will require a larger training volume. Try 1–3 exercises per muscle and 1–3 sets each exercise. Prioritize time under tension and use the progressive overload principal to guide your workouts. In a matter of a few weeks you should find your sweet spot.
2. Ive been in a defecit since April and im looking to start a bulk in late January, but how do you bulk? I love binge eating so on my cut I eat in a 1k defecit 6 days a week and have an absolute blow out on a sunday where i will eat around 4–5k calories. But how can I do this on a bulk if at all? I don’t want to go and get fat.
The question didn’t specific this, but given that a 1k caloric deficit daily is beyond extreme, i’m going to assume it’s weekly. Therefore 142 caloric deficit daily, which is realistic. Although everyone (including myself) is guilty of this — binge eating isn’t a healthy practice. I’d recommend choosing a caloric surplus you can sustain and eliminate the ‘absolute blow outs’. Or at least heavily reduce the frequency in which you do them (1x per month instead of 4x for example)
3. When will I actually lose weight by exercising and counting calories? Why won’t the weight, like, f*ck off?
Weight loss happens when you’re in a caloric deficit. If that is not working, then look to make your diet more ‘clean’ by cutting out processed foods, deep fried, less pop, more water, more vegetables, etc. If that doesn’t work over a multi-week period then consider going to get some allergy testing.
4. Guys, im your regular brosplitter (dont judge me) and im wondering if should avoid doing leg presses and squats on the same day, they are both pretty intense exercises and my gym bro said that I should spread them apart.
I would personally recommend you eliminate machine leg presses from your routine completely. There are plenty of ways to strengthen your legs that don’t involve putting your spine in such a compromising position. Exercises to look at; Split Squats, Goblet Squats, Deadlifts, BB Hip Thrusts, etc.
5. How much does the thing we eat matter?
A lot. 2,000 calories of fast food gives you much less nutrition than 2,000 calories of fruits, vegetables, legumes, etc.
6. If a food “fits” my macros it could be bad?
Macronutrients is an important thing to consider — but micronutrients should not be ignored. 2,000 calories of fast food gives you much less nutrition than 2,000 calories of fruits, vegetables, legumes, etc.
7. If a routine has 8–12 reps, do I start with a weight that’s heavy for 8 and try to work towards doing 12. Once I get to 12, I should move up? Is that correct?
Time under tension is extremely underrated when considering rep ranges. Someone that spends 25 seconds to complete 8 reps of a Goblet squat will get a different result than someone who takes 50 seconds for the same 8 reps. Now to answer your question directly — use progressive overload. There are more than one ways to handle this, and both can work depending on the person. I’d recommend starting with 12 reps and work yourself up (over multiple weeks) until you hit a weight that you plateau on. Then switch to 8 reps and start the progression over, etc.
8. Deadlifting now hurts my back. Am I dumb to deadlift 65lbs to try practicing on form? I miss deadlifting.
Deadlift is my favourite exercise. That being said, if deadlifting is hurting your back — stop deadlifting. Go get a professional to find out what is really causing this pain. You don’t want to train through pain and just ignore it.
9. I’ve been bulking for 3 months now. How do you decide when to stop bulking?
That’s for the individual to decide. Bulk for as long as you feel comfortable and then cut for as long as you feel comfortable. Alternating 3 months of ‘bulking’ and 3 months of ‘cutting’ wouldn’t be an outrageous thing to do.
10. Deadlift with barefoot or Squat shoes?
Depends on the individual and the variation of deadlift. Generally, the end goal would be to have the person deadlifting barefoot. It also depends on where you train too. Some gyms don’t want you deadlifting barefoot for sanitary reasons. Wearing shoes with large heel lifts isn’t ideal for deadlifts because of how demanding it is to the posterior chain.
11. I’ve been in the gym for 2 months and doing compound exercises but I don’t see much results. Results shouldn’t come as fast but I’m hoping to be as leaned and toned for summer 2021. How long does it take to get that physique?
You didn’t specify what physique you’re looking for — so it’s impossible to say how long it will take to achieve it. You also didn’t share any workout examples. There are many many ways you can workout with ‘compound exercises’ so it’s hard to give direct feedback on that. One common approach is testing your 5 Rep Max in exercises like Bench Press, Back Squat, Deadlift, Overhead Press, etc. and then start training at 60% of your 5RM. Each week progressively raise the % of your 5RM that you train. Once you hit a plateau, remeasure your 5RM and start over. You’ll notice your 5RM will increase by training sub-maximally.