Stupid Questions Thread

[Hardartery]

Thanks for all the feedback! Appreciate it, so , I did a session in my garage, first day of feeling shity today woke up wheezy and snotty, didn't do lots, but got what I wanted done, hopefully a hot soak and early night and I'll be right,

@CheekiBreekiFitness , @Hardartery , I swear I used to get sick a lot more often training to failure (or as close as I could tolerate on leg work) , but since I've been doing lower fatigue with more volume I'm pretty rarely sick, maybe 15 months since my last cold, maybe that's why those guys don't recommend training when sick, either way the gains on Hardgainer/ obsessed with recovery/overtraining type routines were next to zero!

Despite my disdain for HIT, and the obvious lying by the guys trying to sell it, I will say that it did accomplish something. Training was honestly too far the other way from the Arnold era, guys were doing ridiculous volume to their own detriment often. The argument about the necessity of allowing sufficient recovery holds some merit, it helps to keep an eye on it and control it even if it's just about knowing when to back off a little and how to use overtraining during the final phase of contest prep. The other thing is that it seems clear to me that the system probably does have value from a hypertrophy standpoint if you are on a fat cycle of PEDs, but the natty is just spinning his wheels and the juice monkey would do better with different training.

[Allentown]

It's kinda like cutting hard. You want to lower the intensity and volume but it's good for you.

I had the worst case of RSV in my life (way worse than COVID -- was sick for 10 days) and training was one of the few ways I could get myself to cough up the flem from my lungs (which is essential to recovery).

Again it depends- I've set volume PRs while sick.

Most recent illness I had a similar thing with the coughing though, lifting helped me get the chunks out in the morning.

[51M0N]

So my stupid question, how do you program single leg exercises where you have a noticeable strength difference? Doing Bulgarian split squats and my right leg is significantly stronger than my left. Since I'm doing single leg stuff to try and address this, do I just use the same weight for both sides, or change the weight so that it's roughly the same RPE per leg, and just factor in that I can hopefully make faster gains on the left?

[CheekiBreekiFitness]

So my stupid question, how do you program single leg exercises where you have a noticeable strength difference? Doing Bulgarian split squats and my right leg is significantly stronger than my left. Since I'm doing single leg stuff to try and address this, do I just use the same weight for both sides, or change the weight so that it's roughly the same RPE per leg, and just factor in that I can hopefully make faster gains on the left?

Are you doing those single leg exercises in order to increase strength on them ? Or are they just an accessory that you use for hypertrophy ?

[dw]

So my stupid question, how do you program single leg exercises where you have a noticeable strength difference? Doing Bulgarian split squats and my right leg is significantly stronger than my left. Since I'm doing single leg stuff to try and address this, do I just use the same weight for both sides, or change the weight so that it's roughly the same RPE per leg, and just factor in that I can hopefully make faster gains on the left?

Standard bro protocol (brotocol?) is to do the weaker leg first and cap the reps on the stronger leg to the number you get on the weaker leg.

I'm not sure this has actually worked for me, if so it works very slowly. (Kind of evidence for lower RPE being equally beneficial imo.)

[lehman906]

So my stupid question, how do you program single leg exercises where you have a noticeable strength difference? Doing Bulgarian split squats and my right leg is significantly stronger than my left. Since I'm doing single leg stuff to try and address this, do I just use the same weight for both sides, or change the weight so that it's roughly the same RPE per leg, and just factor in that I can hopefully make faster gains on the left?

Standard bro protocol (brotocol?) is to do the weaker leg first and cap the reps on the stronger leg to the number you get on the weaker leg.

I'm not sure this has actually worked for me, if so it works very slowly. (Kind of evidence for lower RPE being equally beneficial imo.)

I would do that plus do at least one more set on the weaker leg.

[DCR]

This was sure timely.

Fine, I’ll train today. Maybe.

Cough.

I ended up training twice this past week while sick. Took it reasonably easy both times and felt good after. But… after three days of seemingly getting slowly better, I completely regressed and yesterday / last night was as sick as I’ve ever been. I’m not blaming the training sessions per se, but as a totality of the circumstances, my conduct this past week clearly was unhelpful.

[Culican]

Yesterday I did incline dumbbell presses. I have been doing these for several months 1x/wk without issue and had no issues with them yesterday.

Last night I noticed a big bruise right at the junction of my upper arm and my pec. There is a very dark purple spot about the size of a dime with discoloration spreading out an inch or so. At first I thought I banged myself with the dumbbell and caused a skin bruise but upon further thought I am wondering if I tore my pec. There is absolutely no pain when pressing on the spot nor is there any pain when I move my arm.

Can I just ignore this as it seems so minor or should I go easy on pressing exercises for a bit and let it heal?

[janoycresva]

Yesterday I did incline dumbbell presses. I have been doing these for several months 1x/wk without issue and had no issues with them yesterday.

Last night I noticed a big bruise right at the junction of my upper arm and my pec. There is a very dark purple spot about the size of a dime with discoloration spreading out an inch or so. At first I thought I banged myself with the dumbbell and caused a skin bruise but upon further thought I am wondering if I tore my pec. There is absolutely no pain when pressing on the spot nor is there any pain when I move my arm.

Can I just ignore this as it seems so minor or should I go easy on pressing exercises for a bit and let it heal?

definitely go easy, any gains you would have made in a few weeks are not significant over the course of a training career but a torn pec could be

[Hardartery]

Yesterday I did incline dumbbell presses. I have been doing these for several months 1x/wk without issue and had no issues with them yesterday.

Last night I noticed a big bruise right at the junction of my upper arm and my pec. There is a very dark purple spot about the size of a dime with discoloration spreading out an inch or so. At first I thought I banged myself with the dumbbell and caused a skin bruise but upon further thought I am wondering if I tore my pec. There is absolutely no pain when pressing on the spot nor is there any pain when I move my arm.

Can I just ignore this as it seems so minor or should I go easy on pressing exercises for a bit and let it heal?

It's not a tendon or ligament, they don't bruise. It could be a minor tear, but even high pain tolerance guys usually know without much doubt if that happens. That said, if it is a partial tear, anything that hits it with weights would be a mistake for a little while (It is an individual thing so I can't give you a specific length of time). Partial tears become very bad tears very quickly if you push it, not pushing it means a quick heal up and everything is golden quite quickly. Look for swelling and pain, look for a knot forming, test it with pushing on it and moving through a full ROM slowly and seeing how it reacts. If in doubt, see a doc. Preferrably an ortho or something as opposed to a GP/PCP. Like @janoycresva said, definitely go easy. It's probably minor, I had a row of bruises on my left forearm last week and have zero idea what that was from but I am still keeping an eye on it.

[dw]

I thought at least in some cases tendon tears leave bruises.

[Hardartery]

I thought at least in some cases tendon tears leave bruises.

If it tears part of the muscle tissue off it will bruise, but that's the muscle bleeding. Tendons don't really have blood vessels that can cause a visible bruise when damaged.

[dw]

This kind of sounds stupid but I think a reasonably precise answer is possible:

At what bodyweight would a normally proportioned 5'10 male @ 15% bodyfat be capable of 300/400/500 b/s/d assuming proper training?

Don't want to bias anyone by giving my guess.

[CheekiBreekiFitness]

This kind of sounds stupid but I think a reasonably precise answer is possible:

At what bodyweight would a normally proportioned 5'10 male @ 15% bodyfat be capable of 300/400/500 b/s/d assuming proper training?

Don't want to bias anyone by giving my guess.

Based on Grog's calculators in his article

https://www.strongerbyscience.com/your- ... al-part-1/

If you want a 1200 lbs powerlifting total, you'd need about 132 lbs of lean mass, so assuming 15% bodyfat you'd need to weight around 160 lbs.

Which is awfully light.

But that's assuming elite strength genetics and a liftime of training, I think.

Now I don't know why a 5'10 dude would want to weight 160 lbs but I guess people all have different goals.

[dw]

This kind of sounds stupid but I think a reasonably precise answer is possible:

At what bodyweight would a normally proportioned 5'10 male @ 15% bodyfat be capable of 300/400/500 b/s/d assuming proper training?

Don't want to bias anyone by giving my guess.

Based on Grog's calculators in his article

https://www.strongerbyscience.com/your- ... al-part-1/

If you want a 1200 lbs powerlifting total, you'd need about 132 lbs of lean mass, so assuming 15% bodyfat you'd need to weight around 160 lbs.

Which is awfully light.

But that's assuming elite strength genetics and a liftime of training, I think.

Thanks. I remember that calculator. I think the elite strength genetics unfortunately distinguish this from my hypothetical. I'll reread his article and see if it's possible to factor them out.

[CheekiBreekiFitness]

This kind of sounds stupid but I think a reasonably precise answer is possible:

At what bodyweight would a normally proportioned 5'10 male @ 15% bodyfat be capable of 300/400/500 b/s/d assuming proper training?

Don't want to bias anyone by giving my guess.

Based on Grog's calculators in his article

https://www.strongerbyscience.com/your- ... al-part-1/

If you want a 1200 lbs powerlifting total, you'd need about 132 lbs of lean mass, so assuming 15% bodyfat you'd need to weight around 160 lbs.

Which is awfully light.

But that's assuming elite strength genetics and a liftime of training, I think.

Thanks. I remember that calculator. I think the elite strength genetics unfortunately distinguish this from my hypothetical. I'll reread his article and see if it's possible to factor them out.

Well if you want the answer with horrible strength genetics and terrible training: I'm 5'11'', 200 lbs, around 15% bodyfat and I do not have a 1200 lbs total. Now I'm not a powerlifter but still.

[dw]

This kind of sounds stupid but I think a reasonably precise answer is possible:

At what bodyweight would a normally proportioned 5'10 male @ 15% bodyfat be capable of 300/400/500 b/s/d assuming proper training?

Don't want to bias anyone by giving my guess.

Based on Grog's calculators in his article

https://www.strongerbyscience.com/your- ... al-part-1/

If you want a 1200 lbs powerlifting total, you'd need about 132 lbs of lean mass, so assuming 15% bodyfat you'd need to weight around 160 lbs.

Which is awfully light.

But that's assuming elite strength genetics and a liftime of training, I think.

Thanks. I remember that calculator. I think the elite strength genetics unfortunately distinguish this from my hypothetical. I'll reread his article and see if it's possible to factor them out.

Well if you want the answer with horrible strength genetics and terrible training: I'm 5'11'', 200 lbs, around 15% bodyfat and I do not have a 1200 lbs total. Now I'm not a powerlifter but still.

Those are pretty godly body composition stats for a forum like this. I have to ask... how sure are you about the bf%?

[CheekiBreekiFitness]

This kind of sounds stupid but I think a reasonably precise answer is possible:

At what bodyweight would a normally proportioned 5'10 male @ 15% bodyfat be capable of 300/400/500 b/s/d assuming proper training?

Don't want to bias anyone by giving my guess.

Based on Grog's calculators in his article

https://www.strongerbyscience.com/your- ... al-part-1/

If you want a 1200 lbs powerlifting total, you'd need about 132 lbs of lean mass, so assuming 15% bodyfat you'd need to weight around 160 lbs.

Which is awfully light.

But that's assuming elite strength genetics and a liftime of training, I think.

Thanks. I remember that calculator. I think the elite strength genetics unfortunately distinguish this from my hypothetical. I'll reread his article and see if it's possible to factor them out.

Well if you want the answer with horrible strength genetics and terrible training: I'm 5'11'', 200 lbs, around 15% bodyfat and I do not have a 1200 lbs total. Now I'm not a powerlifter but still.

Those are pretty godly body composition stats for a forum like this. I have to ask... how sure are you about the bf%?

I am not sure at all about bodyfat because the only correct way to measure it is dissection and nobody has dissected me yet (never say never !). My waistline is 34 inches, that's how I got the estimate. I could be 20% for all I know. I don't really care about the bodyfat %, but I care very much for the waistline size, for health reasons amongst other things. Now even at 20% I would be much more muscular than our hypothetical 160 lbs powerlifting champion.

[lehman906]

This kind of sounds stupid but I think a reasonably precise answer is possible:

At what bodyweight would a normally proportioned 5'10 male @ 15% bodyfat be capable of 300/400/500 b/s/d assuming proper training?

Don't want to bias anyone by giving my guess.

Based on Grog's calculators in his article

https://www.strongerbyscience.com/your- ... al-part-1/

If you want a 1200 lbs powerlifting total, you'd need about 132 lbs of lean mass, so assuming 15% bodyfat you'd need to weight around 160 lbs.

Which is awfully light.

But that's assuming elite strength genetics and a liftime of training, I think.

Thanks. I remember that calculator. I think the elite strength genetics unfortunately distinguish this from my hypothetical. I'll reread his article and see if it's possible to factor them out.

Well if you want the answer with horrible strength genetics and terrible training: I'm 5'11'', 200 lbs, around 15% bodyfat and I do not have a 1200 lbs total. Now I'm not a powerlifter but still.

Those are pretty godly body composition stats for a forum like this. I have to ask... how sure are you about the bf%?

As a representative of the “about 6’ tall and 200 lbs with IDK bf but can kinda see some abs” contingent, I can assure you they are not ungodly composition stats. Very attainable for most of us.

Also, don’t have a 1200 total anymore, which is annoying.

[hector]

This kind of sounds stupid but I think a reasonably precise answer is possible:

At what bodyweight would a normally proportioned 5'10 male @ 15% bodyfat be capable of 300/400/500 b/s/d assuming proper training?

Don't want to bias anyone by giving my guess.

Based on Grog's calculators in his article

https://www.strongerbyscience.com/your- ... al-part-1/

If you want a 1200 lbs powerlifting total, you'd need about 132 lbs of lean mass, so assuming 15% bodyfat you'd need to weight around 160 lbs.

Which is awfully light.

But that's assuming elite strength genetics and a liftime of training, I think.

Thanks. I remember that calculator. I think the elite strength genetics unfortunately distinguish this from my hypothetical. I'll reread his article and see if it's possible to factor them out.

Well if you want the answer with horrible strength genetics and terrible training: I'm 5'11'', 200 lbs, around 15% bodyfat and I do not have a 1200 lbs total. Now I'm not a powerlifter but still.

Those are pretty godly body composition stats for a forum like this. I have to ask... how sure are you about the bf%?

As a representative of the “about 6’ tall and 200 lbs with IDK bf but can kinda see some abs” contingent, I can assure you they are not ungodly composition stats. Very attainable for most of us.

Also, don’t have a 1200 total anymore, which is annoying.

Which particular lower lift is the most annoying? And what was the drop?

(I ask as a fatty with a total kind of in that neighborhood who is fighting to lose weight.)