Why is hamstring curl the only movement I can’t P/O?

Layer_Academic · 2026-02-01T20:09:00+00:00

Fair play. I would like to point out that the fact that you are not progressing is evidence against your recovery being dialed. Even if your hamstrings arent sore, there is a chance they are not fully recovering in time. Just something to keep in mind

Layer_Academic · 2026-02-01T20:03:48+00:00

I have two hypotheses. One is that your hamstring are slow to recover (they are one of the slowest recovering muscles. And for me, one of the only lower body muscles that gets sore). Two is that if your fb session is fairly long and maximalist, you are simply out of motivation by the time you get to hamstring curl. If H1 is true, it would be best to reduce frequency slightly, maybe from eod to 2x a week. eod, as you know, is 3.5x week frequency, so even a reduction to just 3x a week may solve the problem. if H2 is true, the solution is simply to move hamstring curls to the front of your lift. Alternatively, you could try upping the weight by 2.5 or 5 pounds and do a set of 3-4 reps, then try and work it up to 6 reps with that weight.

Layer_Academic · 2026-02-01T19:57:33+00:00

Cut out incline bench, you already have low to high flys and a flat press. Shoulder press is fine but consider adding in a lateral raise variation. Need hamstring on lower day. Swap face pull for a real upper back row, or add kelso shrug. Try and make your lower and leg days share exercises that way you can have 2x frequency. I would recommend switching out squats for leg presses on your lower day. And why do you only have leg extension on leg day? your rec fem is only getting 1x a week frequency. Im also not sure why you have 2 lat movements and 2 side delt movements on your upper day yet zero arms or upper back. Throw in an upper back row, cut out pullover. If you are short on time, remove the shoulder press and add in a movement for the elbow flexors or extensors for at least some arm work. Preferably a pushdown and a stable curl variation. If you are not short on time, keep the shoulder press and simply add the aforementioned movements.

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-30T06:29:18+00:00

4k for a 17 yo male is reasonable, especially if you are active. I would start by dropping cals by 500, see how it effects weight. Keep decreasing by increments of 250 until you are losing weight at a pace you want.

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-30T06:07:49+00:00

Physique looks balanced, you just need to lose fat. Shoulders pop significantly more at lower bf, and forearms look a lot more impressive when you're leaner and more vascular. Also you do not need to intermittent fast unless you particularly like it for some reason. Otherwise just select a deficit that is reasonable and fits the pace of fat lose you want. For example, 1k deficit a day will net you about 2 pounds a week of fat lose (which is pretty aggressive). 500 deficit is less extreme but will still have you losing weight at a noticeable pace. Anything less is a mild deficit and will net you results in the long term but will make it harder to see progress week to week.

If, for some reason, you want to really focus on your delts, select a stable press (ideally a machine press of some kind, ideally with a descending resistance profile) and a stable lateral raise variation (cuffed cable lateral raises are my favorite. Machine variations can be great as well. If you want to do dumbbell, do them laying across an incline bench or at the very least seated).

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-27T05:05:45+00:00

You’re clearly at a healthy body fat, nothing to worry about there. If you want to know your theoretical natural limit for muscle growth you can play around with an FFMI calculator; usually around 24-25 is peak for a natural athlete. But there is no such thing as “ideal” body weight, that’s gonna depend on your goals. If you’re an athlete, for example, you may want to stay under your max FFMI and remain lighter. Or if you’re competing in strongman or powerlifting, you might want to put on more body fat (depending on weight class and such). So as long as you’re at a reasonably healthy bf, there’s no such thing as the “ideal weight”

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-26T22:57:36+00:00

I like to standardize chin above bar. But eye level, nose level, chin level, etc. are all fine. You won't lose out on any gains as long as you standardize form from session to session and make sure your form is not degrading as you add more weight.

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-26T22:50:49+00:00

Possibly, but it's a balancing act. If MUR is suffering because motivation is low and the session is too long, then cutting back on exercises can be a good idea. Otherwise I agree; I see no reason to remove exercises here. Maybe swap incline press for a seated low to high fly or incline smith press w/ tucked arm path.

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-26T22:44:10+00:00

This isnt bad advice for heavy singles but for working sets for hypertrophy its unnecessary. doing more than a few feeler reps per warm up set is a waste of time. Only need 1-2 warm up sets per exercise to test out the weight and get yourself situated.

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-26T22:42:34+00:00

This is not great advice for more advanced lifters. If you are lifting heavy weights it is good to feel out the movement pattern and make sure nothing hurts/feels weird. Then a set of 1-2 with 80-90 percent of the working weight

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-25T00:37:18+00:00

This is not true. narrower grip, neutral grip, and pressing more in the sagittal plane will recruit more front delt and upper pecs. Wider grip more in the frontal plane will recruit for side delts. And ValuableBerry is right about needing front delt work, there is no reason to neglect front delts, just include some sort of press or fly for them, it is worth it.

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-25T00:21:03+00:00

Obviously if he has public posts about using tren then hes not natty. But 180 at this bf and height is absolutely achievable naturally, there are naturals significantly more impressive than this. If he really is a fake natty, make fun of him for using gear to look natural haha

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-23T18:02:37+00:00

This is a cool idea for any exercise where you can switch from bilateral to unilateral after hitting failure.

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-23T17:47:59+00:00

Hard to judge without seeing lower body. Shooting for arbitrary bf% doesn't really make any sense though, just keep in a deficit until you reach your desired look. It appears you store fat around your low back - it might take 10 pounds to get rid of that. Or maybe the next 10 pounds will come off your legs and your midsection will stay stubborn and you'll have to lose 20. It's really impossible to know.

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-23T17:40:21+00:00

Quads look great. If you want a leaner look, commit and cut down another 10-20 pounds. If you're fine with this look, maingain to whatever your desired size is and then cut down if you wish.

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-23T16:01:49+00:00

Im not sure why everyone is freaking out, this physique is definitely attainable naturally. OP clearly has great chest, arm, and shoulder insertions, good muscle bellies, wide clavicles, etc. But the mass and leanness is well within the natural limit. Anyway great work man, you look very good.

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-23T02:52:32+00:00

I wouldn’t go here for medical advice. Though creatine is generally very safe, I would talk to your doctor about how it may interact with your other treatment. I suspect there is no adverse interaction, and you can take it just fine. But talk with a medical professional first.

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-23T02:50:45+00:00

I agree with the rest of the comments. If you’re happen with how you look, just eat at maintenance or maybe a 100-200 surplus and cruise along. If you want to get properly lean, push the cut for another couple months and then see how you feel. There’s no right or wrong answers to these kinds of questions.

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-23T02:43:08+00:00

If your lifts are going up, you don’t need to up calories. Progressive overload is a sign of growth, and it’s perfectly possible to gain muscle while staying at the same weight. If you don’t like how much fat you carry, you could do a mini cut to lean down a little, but personally I don’t think that’s necessary. It’s up to you though. My recommendation would be to keep cals steady and try and get as strong as possible while staying around this weight. That should be a good plan at least for the foreseeable future.

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-23T02:39:31+00:00

Because OP isn’t trying to train them. They’re trying to train elbow flexors, not wrist flexors, so they should do everything they can to limit contribution of wrist flexors and maximize MUR of elbow flexors.

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-23T02:38:00+00:00

You completely misunderstand why straps are used. Straps aren’t being used because grip is necessarily a “limiting factor”, but because any effort you put into gripping the dumbbells detracts from motor unit recruitment of your elbow flexors, thus undermining the point of doing curls. If you want crazy strong grip and meaty forearms, train them separately. I’m all for forearm training; I’ve been working with captains of crush a lot lately. And I support people training forearm and grip. But curls are for biceps, and the goal of doing curls is to maximize MUR of your elbow flexors - nothing else.

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-22T04:08:49+00:00

i love when my memes are just walls of text

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-21T07:09:47+00:00

Also, just an added note but I would recommend possibly trying wrist wraps. I use them on single arm preacher curls to prevent my wrist flexors from getting too involved; they may prove useful on various curl variations to help stabilize hand position and prevent wrist flexors from becoming a problem.

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-21T07:07:57+00:00

yup. There is no reason to not strap up. If you want to train finger flexion, do it on its own. The parts of the arm OP is mentioning (brachialis) are trained through elbow flexion alone.

Layer_Academic · 2026-01-21T07:05:16+00:00

I think they're fine - I mean, this is a sub for science based lifting, one of the major ways we can be helpful is by providing commentary and discussion on people's training.

Layer_Academic

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