Weightlifting people, here! Ongoing chat thread...

banging six pack yes please!

How much over your maintenance calories do you eat on a bulk?

*I think bulk/cut cycles are considered a more efficient (and far less fiddly) method of gaining muscle and losing fat.

If you're a healthy weight, you can stand to gain a few pounds while you build some muscle, then go into maintenance mode while you cut fat. *

Hmm. Interesting. I had read that the bulk/cut thing didn't work so well for women? I am a healthy weight (pretty much at my ideal weight), but I still carry some fat in my hips, lower butt and upper thighs. I'm wary of eating above maintenance because I think I'll just gain more fat in those areas...

Hi everyone, interesting on the protein. I've been aiming for close to 1 gram of protein per pound but it is tricky. I end up having a protein bar most days which probably isn't the best.

I managed 8 x 90kg trap bar deadlifts yesterday. My trainer said I would be up to 100kg by Christmas. I'm really loving it.

Arms tomorrow which I'm a lot weaker on.

Yes, I've found too that if I have a protein shake then I can get up to the 1:1 protein thing. But I don't really want to have a protein shake every day (I tend to only have them as a post-weights thing).

It's been interesting tracking on myfitnesspal the last few days. I think I have tended to not eat enough carbs (I'm not trying to lose any weight, in particular, more aiming for that elusive 'body recomposition').

Does anyone have any particular insight on what the best macro split is? I've read so, so many conflicting things. Right now, I'm working towards a 40:30:30 carb:protein:fat ratio. That has me aiming for 1g of protein per lb and keeping my fat under 60g a day. So I think that's probably a good ratio to be aiming for. Really interesting that this requires me to eat far more carbs than I had been in the past. Might explain why I have recently hit a bit of a plateau on the weights.

Just noticed am
Actually quite a bit over what I should be on the protein 😳

Hi closet, here’s my macros from yesterday. I did arms and a slow bike ride and then had my protein shakes otherwise I never get the lbs v gs thing.

On days am not training I tend to eat more carbs but not much more. To be honest am not 100% sure about my nutrition but have noticed a different when I take the protein shakes.

Just wanted to join the chat!

I started training with a PT about a year ago and she got me into weights. I've been training on my own since the summer and focusing more on the major compound lifts and a basic progressive overload programme. Been using one of Nia Shanks online plans (anyone else used her plans?). I've been seeing decent gains, but I'm getting to a plateau, I think (physically and mentally) so I'm now thinking of getting the Strong Curves book.

Been trying to focus on my nutrition this week. How much protein do you all eat? Do you go by the 1g per lb of body weight rule?

Thanks maid, I’ll do some cardio in the morning then & hope for the best. I feel great with lifting apart from the sore muscles so I don’t want it to put me off.

Hi I started lifting a few weeks ago but am so sore, is there anything I should be doing? Or anything to relieve it? I’ll

So far the bath helps but not much.

I was exaggerating a bit I've been on holiday and consumed vast amounts of wine & cheese so weight gain was expected. I'm back to eating well now I'm home, I just find keeping a regular gym routine helps sort my diet out too - the two go hand in hand for me.

Oogle if your putting on weight at an alarming rate then you need to look at your calorie consumption. Excercise is weights for strength and cardio is for fitness that alone doesn’t help you loose weight.

So if you’re unable to train and you don’t track calories properly then the goal you are aiming for takes a lot longer to accomplish.

Thanks both, I'll cancel. Annoyed as I've had 2 weeks off and am putting on weight at an alarming rate but I don't want this to linger longer than it needs to.

I am super cautious about exercising with a cold - probably more than most people. I did a half marathon with the beginnings of a cold once (I was following the above neck/below neck rule of thumb for symptoms) and I wasn't right for about a month after.

At the moment I have a head cold and I haven't been to the gym since it started on Monday. I don't really feel like exercising so I'm not going to push myself. It's only a week, no biggie in the scheme of things.

In your shoes I would cancel.

Cancel. You'll be wasting your time and possibly making your cold worse. Your body will be marshalling all its reserves to fight the virus. It doesn't need the added metabolic stress of exercise recovery.

Do any of you exercise with a cold? I came back from holiday Tuesday, straight into a PT session - first in 2 weeks. I've since managed to pull a muscle in my shoulder (although it's much better today). Booked another session for tomorrow afternoon but today have definite "uh-oh. This is a cold" symptoms.

I'm cold (always cold), little bit achey in my muscles (but could this just be due to the session on Tuesday?), sinuses hurt and I've got that "cold" sensation from bridge of nose down into my throat. I'm tired, but didn't sleep well last night.

I don't know what to doooooooooo. I have to give 24hrs notice to cancel so can't even wait to see how I feel tomorrow morning.

Prob not warming and stretching enough before, thanks for the tips.
I'm waiting to get a light put in the garage so I can board up the broken window and shut the doors to get a bit more heat in there as well when I exercise.

Thinking about it I did some heavy gardening earlier in the week as well so don't suppose that helped any.

Hard to say exactly what it was, but do you stretch before squatting?