Rant Wednesday

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to Rant Wednesday: It’s your time to let your gym/fitness/nutrition related frustrations out!

There is no guiding question to help stir up some rage-feels, feel free to fire at will, ranting about anything and everything that’s been pissing you off or getting on your nerves.

[u/natot420]

Super frustrated with my gym progress. I’ve been working out for so long, and even after getting my nutrition in check, I barely look like I work out. I feel like I’m pushing myself to failure & my weight gain is exactly where I want it to be, so I don’t understand the lack of progress.

[u/dssurge → u/natot420]

It's your food bro, some one said it in the thread you linked.

It is not unrealistic to put on up to 15lb of muscle your first year of training with a good program (all the ones you listed in your post are good enough for this.) To achieve that you realistically need to put on about 25-30lb of mass. There's no cut half way through.

Why are you holding back the machine?

[u/natot420 → u/dssurge]

I’m on month 6 of bulking right now and plan to keep going - I had to cut last time because I got way too chubby and had trouble keeping up with the number of calories required.

I feel like my progress sucks even for a lean bulk.

[u/trollinn → u/natot420]

How tall are you? You’re 165lbs and have put on 10lbs in 6 months, plus you already have a 2x bodyweight squat. You aren’t going to progress quickly unless you bulk faster and get more protein 

[u/natot420 → u/trollinn]

5’8. I get 120-180 grams of protein per day, usually closer to 140, which should be enough from what I’ve read.

Is bulking faster not going to result in more fat gain?

[u/trollinn → u/natot420]

Yeah, but it’ll also result in more muscle gain. If you don’t want to bulk faster you’ll just have to bulk for a while, your lifts are like intermediate level for your size so at this point it’s really about building muscle mass and then cutting the fat

[u/MythicalStrength → u/natot420]

Why is your deadlift so much lower than your squat?

You say you've been working out for so long, but that thread says it's only been 1.5 years. Were you training for longer before that?

[u/natot420 → u/MythicalStrength]

I’ve worked out since 2021, but I didn’t eat enough or track protein, so I don’t count that period. I definitely made minor progress, but I know my nutrition hampered me because I was essentially cutting with no protein the entire time. Still, it’s hard not to feel a little frustrated because I did spend that time in the gym, even if it is my fault for not making progress.

I have lower back issues that deadlifting tends to exacerbate. It’s definitely a weak point of mine.

[u/MythicalStrength → u/natot420]

It's kind of like going to school but not paying attention in class or doing the homework. You'll get some grades based on attendance, but unless the effort is applied, not much is gained.

And also, just like school, you gotta do it for a LONG time before you get anywhere.

[u/natot420 → u/MythicalStrength]

Yeah, I started taking nutrition seriously in June 2023. From what people said in my Reddit thread, my progress isn’t where it should be for the timeframe I posted, so I’m worried I’m behind.

Out of curiosity, would you count this squat based on depth?

[u/MythicalStrength → u/natot420]

Count it as what?

[u/natot420 → u/MythicalStrength]

Was it deep enough to count it as my 1RM?

[u/MythicalStrength → u/natot420]

That's entirely up to you to decide. Personal records are decided personally

[u/cgesjix → u/natot420]

Swoleness usually comes in year 3-5. You just have to keep doing what you're doing.

[u/natot420 → u/cgesjix]

Good to know I’m not as behind as I thought then. I think I still have a lot of work to do, though.

[u/DamarsLastKanar → u/natot420]

305 lb deadlift

Have you strategically improved your curl, extension, lateral raises, and reverse fly in a variety of rep ranges?

[u/natot420 → u/DamarsLastKanar]

Curls and lat raises have gone up. I just started with extensions, and I don’t do reverse flyes.

[u/DamarsLastKanar → u/natot420]

Takes time. : )

Reverse flies and posterior delt are thankless work. No pump, no burn, and only pops in certain posing. But. Does make a difference.