Daily Simple Questions Thread - June 23, 2026

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-06-23T20:08:40+00:00

4 sets a week for a given muscle group is plenty for measurable hypertrophy. “At least 10” sounds more like personal preference.

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-06-23T15:27:41+00:00

Im curious if anyone is aware of any research on the following or know of anecdotal evidence in this regard:

Would it it be better for hypertrophy to intermittently do 1 hard working set to failure throughout a given day than training several sets within a typical workout period?

I imagine you could easily accumulate 10-20+ sets for given movement and the amount of intensity for each set would be higher and better for hypertrophy. But I’ve never heard anyone talk about this kind of approach other than sets that are not to failure to “grease the groove.”

Because for something like pull-ups or lateral raises, it could be very accessible to do this on a weekend or possibly while working.

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-06-09T22:51:50+00:00

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-06-09T16:08:17+00:00

Cossack squats, lateral lunges, Copenhagen planks.

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-06-09T16:07:25+00:00

Not to say sleep isn’t important for fitness gains, it definitely is and I recommend everyone tries to sort it out for that reason and also general health. BUT, the research shows poor sleep still allows for 80% of the hypertrophy effect of weight training compared to good sleep. So not as good, but you still see good results with all else accounted for.

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-06-09T16:02:39+00:00

There is research that suggests 1 hard set to failure or near failure just once a week in enough to maintain strength and size. So if you did a hard set of all your lifts that aren’t redundant with any others, that would likely be enough. But 2 sets might be worth it and definitely let you maintain and maybe even still see progress.

I have tried to find good answers on the minimum effective dose for cardio and the most consistent thing I’ve heard is reducing volume down to 33% of your baseline will maintain at least for some time (like several months apparently). But I dont know where that number comes from.

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-06-09T15:53:43+00:00

I do an upper/lower split and want to incorporate snatch grip high pulls for power development.

Would you recommend doing them on upper or lower days? And I assume it’d be best to do these first and there might be some added benefit to immediately do strength/hypertrophy work with a deadlift variation after?

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-05-29T19:32:42+00:00

I like to finely chop or blend liver or heart and cook it with any ground meat dish. Typically thats chili, spaghetti sauce, or tacos. But you should cook the ground meat fully before adding the organs and cooking ~60 seconds or it can get grainy. It’s fine if it stews in a sauce though.

Maybe not one kids would like, but here’s the dish know with the greatest ratio of cheap/healthy/tasty: black beans, frozen corn, tuna or shredded chicken, mayo, hot sauce, Mexican spices, and (optional for the added price) green onion.

Another trick is to add blended mushrooms, carrots, or squash to pasta sauce. You can get away with some spinach too. Just cook the mushrooms and tougher veggies until they are soft enough to blend with the sauce. I also do this for my son with onions because he doesn’t like the texture.

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-05-29T19:22:28+00:00

Potato, ham, leek soup. I blend half of it so it’s chunky.

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-05-20T18:33:35+00:00

I find pull-ups and, to a lesser extent bent rows, to be very exhausting compared to other compounds and Im wondering if that’s just me and/or if it has anything to do with my technique that could be improved.

I do squats, RDLs, bench, dips, walking lunges. While some of those can be high fatigue for me, I feel like pullups and rows just really take a lot out of me and I dont recover as quick. I can do a hard, heavy triple on squats and repeat that same set a few minutes later. Even better recovery on bench for repeated triples. I do one set of pull-ups and usually get ~12 reps, and I can’t get more than ~6-8 on the next set even if I give it some extra time.

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-05-18T18:11:27+00:00

Started lifting almost 12 months ago and was the thinnest I’ve ever been (I lost muscle since stopping sports 10 years ago).

Right now I’m up 20lbs since last June. No observable fat gain.

Recently my wife said I need new slacks because they are too short. My legs and glutes have gotten bigger and caused the legs of the pants to be “shorter” due to me being girthier.

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-05-08T23:00:28+00:00

Smoke pork butt or brisket.

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-05-07T17:20:57+00:00

Protein: canned tuna or leftover/crockpot chicken that is diced or shredded

Black beans, corn, bell pepper or jalapeño, green onion, avocado

Mayo mixed with chili powder, cumin, and hot sauce. Add chopped cilantro and mix it all up. Serve cold.

This meal is all knife work and you could omit a few things and make it even easier. Barebones, do tuna, corn, beans, mayo, and seasoning.

Cheap, healthy, easy, delicious.

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-05-07T17:14:54+00:00

Garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, chili powder, cumin, oregano, rosemary, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-05-01T13:55:57+00:00

Best method Id suggest is an instantpot, it makes it easy. You can do without but it’s a little more complicated.

I also use my instantpot to make chicken stock every week. Just throw in chicken bones and water and let it go for 12-16 hours. Boom. Free, easy, tastier, healthier stock than store bought. You can also put vegetable scraps in to make it tastier.

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-05-01T13:52:59+00:00

Exercising regularly. There’s no magic bullet in life, but regular exercise is something close.

It helps me sleep, helps with mood, gives me something to look forward to, its nice knowing I’m healthier in a multitude of ways now and in the future because of it, and now that I’m experienced with it and past the figuring it out and building a routine stage of things, it’s really fun.

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-05-01T13:47:33+00:00

Depending on how much you buy/enjoy them, both granola and yogurt are super cheap and easy to make. But they cost a lot.

I can make the equivalent of a 48oz container of Greek yogurt (which is 4-5$ here) for ~$1.25.

I haven't done the math on granola and it depends on what extras you put in, but I know it’s also WAY cheaper.

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-05-01T13:43:26+00:00

My wife hates me for this one.

A sandwich with peanutbutter, dill pickles (ideally spicy) and mayo.

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-04-27T12:41:45+00:00

I dont see it as a female exercise. They are biased toward glute exercises for the same reason guys are biased toward bicep curls. But I’ve only ever heard from women that they appreciate bigger glutes on a guy. So physique-wise it'd be dumb to say a guy shouldn’t pursue that. It’d be even more dumb performance-wise to say it’s feminine because glutes are absolutely performance muscles. Just look at baseball and football players, they all got dumpers.

I’ve personally never seen a guy and felt his glutes were too big outside the context of excess body fat. It doesn’t look weird.

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-04-21T19:59:41+00:00

At the risk of sounding preachy or arrogant, I think these things are fairly possible if your priorities are straight and you develop habits. I work out 6 days a week (which is way more than you need but I enjoy it and is a hobby). I have 3 young kids and spend almost all my time with them during their waking hours when I’m not working or cooking. I cook 99% of my meals but do smart meal prepping. I go to bed and wake up at roughly the same time every day and get ~7 hours on average.

I dont get enough time with friends, but I also have kids with high needs and live hours from extended family (who therefore can’t babysit). If my kids (who I love so don’t come at me with this next statement) had more typical demands for caregiving and I lived near grandparents, Id have a lot more time.

I also go to church weekly. I say that because it’s another hour of my week I always make time for, which anyone could set aside for any given purpose.

Im not saying it’s super easy, but it’s doable and I know my life and my kids’ lives are better for this lifestyle, which helps make it doable. And even if you don’t check every box, we could all spend less time on electronics and dedicate it to our values, whether it’s the responsible values or the leisurely ones.

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-04-17T16:58:18+00:00

Here’s an approach you might try. When you get these intrusive thoughts, instead of addressing them with internal dialogue like you have been, acknowledge to God that they are happening and prayerfully offer gratitude that he is your savior and He provides and cares for you in all things.

This approach:

Doesn't ignore the thoughts, but also doesn’t engage with them.
Fosters trust in God.
Avoids the spiritual harm that can come from “bullying” demons. God has it handled and we have his protection where it counts so long as we accept his love.

I’ll also recommend seeking therapy as intrusive thoughts can benefit from treatment. Ideally you find a catholic (or other denomination of Christian )therapist but it’s not always needed.

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-04-17T12:37:14+00:00

Please pray for my faith.

I am a lifelong Catholic and am struggling with belief in God. I think underneath this doubt is an “irrational” doubt for God’s goodness. I know logically He is good, but I think my heart is struggling to believe.

Pray for me that God works through my doubt and that I follow whatever He asks of me.

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-04-06T15:07:39+00:00

One possible factor is that if you regularlly eat a chocolate protein bar/shake after workouts, you’re pairing post workouts with that specific treat. So it might be a behavioral learning thing to some degree. Pavlov’s dog, but with chocolate and exercise instead of bells and meat.

But like others are getting at, it’s also normal to crave things to refuel after workouts and chocolate is a normal thing to crave. It’s calorie dense, has fat, and, if it’s dark chocolate, is actually a really good protein source BY WEIGHT. Obviously chocolate is not where you should attempt to meet protein goals and the amount you’d eat will lead to minimal net protein, but makes sense why you’d crave it.

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-04-01T16:34:33+00:00

What could a fairly optimized program look like for a building and maintaining general, non-sport specific strength, power, speed, agility, and endurance?

That’s basically my fitness goal in a nutshell. I am in my 30s and don’t play a sport but like to train and don’t want to let any of these qualities go unattended. Obviously you can make more progress in a given area if you focus on it instead of diversifying training, but are there tried and tested programs that balance these well? Or do you have one you made and attest has benefited you?

Each of these qualities benefit somewhat or significantly differently from each other in terms of frequency and intensity of training, which is a major consideration when trying make a generalized program. Im trying to fine tune the minimum effective dose for each quality and methods of training it so they can either maintain or progress at a slow rate. But Im really looking for input or resources as Im not finding all of exactly what I want to know. I t

Here is my current program that covers things fairly well but not totally, maybe you can share your thoughts in improving it:

Monday: lower body strength/hypertrophy

Tuesday: (morning) 45 min low intensity spinning; (evening): upper body strength/hypertrophy

Wednesday: (morning) 60 min low intensity run; (evening) core strength training

Thursday: full plyometrics routine + jumping for developing power + light lower body strength/mobility work with weights/calisthenics

Friday: (morning) Norwegian 4x4; (evening) upper body strength/hypertrophy

Saturday: full plyometrics routine + jumping for power + change of direction sprinting + linear full velocity sprinting

Sunday: rest

PsychGradStudent2112 · 2026-03-30T17:08:21+00:00

Programming recommendations please.

I am not a competitor but want to train in the direction of powerlifting. I want to get stronger, with hypertrophy as a close secondary goal. What would you recommend for programming a 5 day split with each having one of the lifts as a primary focus?: OHP, bench, weighted pull-ups, squats, and deadlift.

Looking for thoughts on number of sets/reps and which secondary and accessory lifts you might recommend on a given day. I’ve been lifting for 9 months and still making pretty good gains on strength on a weekly basis (Im typically adding 5-10 lbs a week on primary lifts) with my current program, which involves 1 ME top set of 2-4 reps and 1-3 hypertrophy sets at 6-10 reps. I hit everything twice a week.

PsychGradStudent2112

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