What is an active workout forum to ask questions about building muscle?

[tanjackson]

Bodybuilding forum is dead and full of spam. I'm looking for an active forum to learn more about supplements and training routines. Thank you.

[thrasher_565]

imo i think supplements is bs and just eat good food instead.

there alot of youtube. some good are athen x, thin x, alan thrall

if your in to calisthenics there some good ones for that too.

Edited April 28 by thrasher_565

[SansVarnic]

Supplements ... <shaking my head> don't, you'll regret it. Not now but you will later.

[starsmine]

Only supplements you should use are
Creatine (20% are non responders)
Caffeine

and some sort of protein supplement if you are not able to hit your protein target
The vast vast majority of other supplements do not do what is advertised and are not validated by the FDA because supplements are not under their purview for whatever god forsaken reason. 

Do progressive overload on the muscles you want to grow on a plan you stick to. you dont have to do long sessions, any more then 1 hour a session, question if you are doing junk volume

full body 2-3 times a week works
Bro splits work
Focus on form, not the weight. The goal is to grow muscle, yes? full ROM is needed for that. 

[LAwLz]

Read this:

https://liamrosen.com/fitness.html

[Donut417]

21 hours ago, tanjackson said:

Bodybuilding forum is dead and full of spam. I'm looking for an active forum to learn more about supplements and training routines. Thank you.

My advice is to talk to your primary healthcare provider. They will have a better idea whats safe to put in to your body. At least in the US many of these "Supplements" are not regulated and you cant be 100% sure what they put in them and what they will do to you.

[Lurking]

On 4/27/2024 at 1:21 PM, tanjackson said:

Bodybuilding forum is dead and full of spam. I'm looking for an active forum to learn more about supplements and training routines. Thank you.

That is because supplements mostly are snake oil. If you are lucky. If you are not lucky, they also can have toxic elements or elements in unnaturally high doses and are NOT regulated. There is no guarantee they contain what the label says. They are not food or drug, so the FDA isn't in control.

 

If you need to add anything, it may be regular salt. For anything else you should test if you even lack that element. Don't just go out and eat tons of potassium if you don't know for sure you lack that at all.

20 hours ago, LAwLz said:

Read this:

https://liamrosen.com/fitness.html

This is a great start. For food I like to add to NOT eat too little. Eat as much unprocessed food as possible. To each their own, but lots of beef, eggs, vegetables, berries is easy to prepare and nutritious. Use real fat like butter or coconut oil for cooking. You need protein and essential fats. No seed oil or sugar. Only buy the pure ingredients, not some factory mixed stuff. They put sugar and seed oil in anything and have varying ways to use FDA loopholes to hide that on the label. 

 

If you really want dairy and fruit, some plain yogurt (no sugar or taste things added) with some berries or fruit put in by yourself isn't bad. 

 

Anything labelled "low fat" should be avoided. That is just loaded with sugar and probably went through nasty processes to remove the healthy fat. I know it sounds counterintuitive. But you know how they fatten up cows before slaughter? Not with fat, but with sugar in corn feed and even discarded candy products.

 

Get yourself some dumbbells. That should cover most strength exercises. Look for exercises for all muscle groups. Exercise while you watch YT or whatever you enjoy.

[Stahlmann]

I've gotten pretty far just by eating fresh, home-cooked meals, focusing on protein-rich meals (like eating more chicken instead of beef or pork), and exercising regularly. No supplements.

 

I'm currently on a 3-day routine, which means 1.5-2 hours of cardio on day 1, 45-60 minutes of weight training on day 2, and just rest on day 3. Then back to cardio the next day and so on. It works pretty well for me and allows me to visibly build muscle even though I'm also in a calorie deficit because I want to lose body fat.

 

I know you've probably heard this a dozen times, but you really have to figure out what works for you. Everyone has different goals, lifestyles, work schedules, etc. Someone else may have enough time to work out 10 hours a week, and you probably don't. And depending on your goals, you may need to train less or more.

 

All you need is a yoga mat and some adjustable dumbbells, and you're ready to go. You don't even need the dumbbells to get started. You can work any muscle using only your body weight. The dumbbells are just added resistance to make your workout harder.

 

Athlean X is a great YouTube channel where you can get a lot of information on the subject, like what exercises are good, how to do them properly, etc.

[Agall]

On 4/27/2024 at 12:21 PM, tanjackson said:

Bodybuilding forum is dead and full of spam. I'm looking for an active forum to learn more about supplements and training routines. Thank you.

I'd say there's tons of information on Youtube from various independent sources. There's a lot of 'in fighting' in the youtube fitness community, so they'll regularly call each other out and correct each other. There's some that use 'bro-science' but there's plenty that have evolved past that like Derek at MPMD and Jeff Nippard that should probably have honorary degrees. Same with Doctor Mike at RP, but he's an actual doctor.

 

Just be aware that they're all going to try to sell you something, whether its their fitness program or supplements or sponsored products. There's also lots of particular habitual/lifestyle changes you can make to maximize your natural testosterone and recovery, but that's a rabbit hole for later and a lot of it is minimally impactful.

Just stay away from PEDs, there's a lot of pressure on guys to pack on muscle quickly, it's not worth the severe and permanent health consequences. If it's something you genuinely start considering, it's worth considering that you might have some sort of body dysmorphia that requires some sort of therapy or such. Naturally getting a 'bulky' physique for most people will take years of training, but you can look like you workout in only a few months of regular hypertrophy training with a low enough body fat %. Maintaining that amount of muscle is also not very difficult, only a couple hours a week of training.

 

There's also nothing wrong with having a basic/moderate level of physical training where you're just maintaining 'beginner gains'. I see 'beginner gains' as the muscle your body naturally wants to maintain when you're physically active without getting into the dramatically higher caloric and training requirements of a bulkier physique that puts strain on your whole body.

 

Most of the time, someone just needs to start exercising regularly on whatever diet they're on, then adjust accordingly. For some, getting a proper diet isn't that easy or possible, but doing even bodyweight based strength training is possible for anyone physically capable of doing so.

 

On 4/27/2024 at 7:08 PM, thrasher_565 said:

imo i think supplements is bs and just eat good food instead.

there alot of youtube. some good are athen x, thin x, alan thrall

if your in to calisthenics there some good ones for that too.

Creatine and a decent protein supplement are really all that's worth it in my opinion. Even then, if you're able to get 0.7g/lb of body weight (or 1g/cm height for overweight/obese people training) without taking a protein supplement, then sure. Creatine is just such an easy addition and has really no negative side effects if you don't have severe kidney problems already.

 

Calisthenics are fun, its my current objective to be able to do a standing handstand pushup from a pushup. I have the balance, but I'm bulking the delts to be able to effectively overhead press my whole body weight. Muscle ups are fun and also a challenge that was mostly limited by ceiling height until now.

 

4 hours ago, Stahlmann said:

All you need is a yoga mat and some adjustable dumbbells, and you're ready to go. You don't even need the dumbbells to get started. You can work any muscle using only your body weight. The dumbbells are just added resistance to make your workout harder.

Adjustable dumbbells and a way to do pullups once you're strong enough. Then find a way to attach those dumbbells to do weighted pullups. Its how I've gotten to where I'm at now. I have $5000 worth of equipment coming since my new house has a two car garage that has enough space for a lot more equipment. Effectively doubled the size of my house and garage recently.

 

 

[Lurking]

14 minutes ago, Agall said:

Adjustable dumbbells and a way to do pullups once you're strong enough. Then find a way to attach those dumbbells to do weighted pullups. Its how I've gotten to where I'm at now. I have $5000 worth of equipment coming since my new house has a two car garage that has enough space for a lot more equipment. Effectively doubled the size of my house and garage recently.

Good on you for using it. Most people buy a lot of stuff that ends up to be an expensive clothes dryer. The best equipment is..... Drumroll.... the equipment you actually use.

 

I have those adjustable Bowflex dumbbells since they still look nice in the rec room I use them along with watching stuff. I also got the stand. Those are great for private use, but likely wouldn't survive public use 

 

I used to have "real" dumbbells in the basement. But with no TV there, I didn't use them. But storing all those dumbbells in the rec room wasn't nice looking. Multiple exercises at different weights also made the Bowflex easier to use and set different weights.

 

You need to find a way that works well for YOU so you actually use the tool you have.

[Agall]

15 minutes ago, Lurking said:

Good on you for using it. Most people buy a lot of stuff that ends up to be an expensive clothes dryer. The best equipment is..... Drumroll.... the equipment you actually use.

 

I have those adjustable Bowflex dumbbells since they still look nice in the rec room I use them along with watching stuff. I also got the stand. Those are great for private use, but likely wouldn't survive public use 

 

I used to have "real" dumbbells in the basement. But with no TV there, I didn't use them. But storing all those dumbbells in the rec room wasn't nice looking. Multiple exercises at different weights also made the Bowflex easier to use and set different weights.

 

You need to find a way that works well for YOU so you actually use the tool you have.

I agree. I started off with just one of the resistance bows since I had to do physical therapy from some injuries from being a year round athlete for my whole childhood that only got worse in the military, and some entirely caused during military service. I did that for 6 months to build a good foundation to safely start using free weights. That was 3 or so years ago at this point.

 

All my IRL friends/family who also maintain a muscular physique have to physically leave their house and go to a gym to actually maintain their routine. I'm the opposite, where I'll only use it if its at my house. The only downside is that its so convenient, you can overwork yourself, so I have to hold back most the time.

 

The important thing is starting to do it and initiating the dramatic positive changes your body starts going through once you do. Its one of those things that once you start and see progress, I think its hard to ever turn back to being sedentary.

 

There is though a substantial advantage to being physically active as a kid. In the field I was in during my military service, most people weren't in that great of physical shape. The types that were sedentary as a kid seemed far more prone to injury and would struggle to maintain the 'passing' standards. There's some data behind that assertion too, bone density and muscle fiber density just being higher for people who've spent their whole lives doing strenuous physical activity.

[tanjackson]

Thanks everyone for your input. 

 

Is protein from cheese as effective/same as meat protein for bulking/getting big?
 

[starsmine]

32 minutes ago, tanjackson said:

Thanks everyone for your input. 

 

Is protein from cheese as effective/same as meat protein for bulking/getting big?
 

Thats a lot of cheese. 

Simple answer, sure

long answer, no* but just eat a varied diet, you do not need to eat meat to meet your goals, Whey protein is very cheap, very bio available. There are certain amino acids that you can not generate yourself, and all foods have a different mix of them or some don't have any of one. So long as you have a varied diet you really don't need to think about this though. Some foods, the protein is more bio-available then others, meaning one gram of protein from one source is not the same as one gram of protein from another as your body was unable to extract it. But again, the solution is eating a varied diet and its not something you actually have to think about. 

if you have dietary restrictions, then yes you may need to consider such things, as your diet is inevitably, less varied. But you are already min maxing when you need to do the baseline of go to a place with weight and lift them up and put them down. 

Hit your cal target
hit your protein target. 
the rest of your diet can be whatever makes you feel good. 
and stretch those muscles with weights. 

[Lurking]

6 minutes ago, tanjackson said:

Thanks everyone for your input. 

 

Is protein from cheese as effective/same as meat protein for bulking/getting big?
 

The human body can't synthesize protein. Your food needs to contain a variety of amino acids (proteins consist of different amino acids). Eating a somewhat variety is good to cover all bases.

 

Think about it, when we were hunters and gatherers, we ate a variety of food based on what was available. Not just one food.

 

Cheese is processed, so I'd go easy with that. 

[LAwLz]

51 minutes ago, tanjackson said:

Is protein from cheese as effective/same as meat protein for bulking/getting big?

Cheese is not a good source for protein.

Sure it contains protein, but it contains a lot of fat as well. If we look at the typical cheese you will find that about 75% of the calories in it come from fat. less than 25% comes from protein. That might not necessarily be bad depending on what you need (maybe you need a lot of calories to gain mass?), but it will be pretty expensive in the long run.

Of course it also depends on which cheese we're talking about, but I am making generalizations here.

 

Want extra protein? Get some whey powder. It's like the ultimate food if you want extra protein. It might not be as fun as eating a bunch of cheese, but it will be cheaper and better for you.

[TetraSky]

On 4/28/2024 at 6:43 AM, LAwLz said:

Read this:

https://liamrosen.com/fitness.html

That article is reminding me of this one

https://physiqonomics.com/fat-loss/

 

Just the no BS straight facts nature of it.

[Stahlmann]

4 hours ago, Agall said:

Adjustable dumbbells and a way to do pullups once you're strong enough. Then find a way to attach those dumbbells to do weighted pullups. Its how I've gotten to where I'm at now. I have $5000 worth of equipment coming since my new house has a two car garage that has enough space for a lot more equipment. Effectively doubled the size of my house and garage recently.

I was perfectly happy with the size of my apartment. Ever since I got into fitness, I wish I had another room... Currently, I have to keep it to the kind of equipment that can easily be stowed away in a small storage room.

[Agall]

1 hour ago, Stahlmann said:

I was perfectly happy with the size of my apartment. Ever since I got into fitness, I wish I had another room... Currently, I have to keep it to the kind of equipment that can easily be stowed away in a small storage room.

There's definitely some impressive ways to min-max workout equipment. Most people don't need a $5000 gym set with +500lbs of plates to get a good physique which is great.

 

A pull up bar is also really useful for a whole body workout, but that requires the individual to be able to do at least 1 pull up to even start, which isn't common. Dumbbells can get you most the way there though.

[Motifator]

As others pointed out, absolutely no junk food should be your primary target...

as for training at home, while this might sound overkill, if you have the money & space, a cable machine at home can do wonders I might say. Cause you can work a lot of your body parts with cables... 

shit is expensive though, even for a single sided one.

[starsmine]

10 minutes ago, Motifator said:

As others pointed out, absolutely no junk food should be your primary target...

To strict. Junk food is fine

And when gyms exist, buying equipment before you even have the habit or form is a bit much. Dumbells and a pull up bar is enough to start with. 

[thrasher_565]

well you have to get started and a good start is push up setups squats and something els i for got...

 

but if you want to body build then lifting is the only way to do. and you have to eat alot.

 

 

[Motifator]

Yeah if you cut down on diet large time for the sake of giving weight, you might not be GETTIN GAINZ at all.

As the old saying goes, eat big to get big. Kinda.