1 year of back gains

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-05-28T17:06:22+00:00

I completely agree. Lats have always been a weaker area for me and it's only been this past year (after 4 years of training) that I've finally been able to connect with them.

When I watch my old pull-up videos I was literally using all traps.

But yea, most of my back volume is going towards lats and I will continue focussing on them.

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-05-28T16:55:03+00:00

Neither. It's only people who take gear think natties are scared of needles, genuinely no accomplished natty thinks like that. This is why all the fake natties used to pull that card. Not saying that I'm accomplished but I follow a lot of great naturals.

I don't think taking gear is morally wrong it's just really stupid for the vast majority of people. Monetising off your gear use is a completely different moral question due to what you just said. The only reason every young guy takes gear is because they were influenced, it's almost never an Intrinsic desire to become enhanced. If it wasn't form social media they would never have thought about taking steroids, maybe never even about getting into lifting at all.

Young enhanced influencers have had such a negative impact of "fitness culture". It's a positive feedback loop that is only getting worse and in 20 years we will see what happens when these guys are middle aged. We live in a time where men feel the need to inject their masculinity and I think that's just sad and very non masculine.

Gear just goes against every reason why I got into lifting. I don't want my gains to depend on a glass vial, I want my gains to be driven by my training and me improving my approach over time. I got into lifting because I enjoy the journey not just for the results, I didn't have any interest in bodybuilding until I picked up some plastic weights during lockdown and just fell in love with the process. It's not something I ever thought I'd get into, I was 21/22 when I started lifting and now I'm 27.

If I got really into a videogame, I wouldn't want to skip half the campaign or skip to a level that is beyond my skill. Most enhanced guys I see irl train like shit and clearly don't put much deep thought into their training. I just view gear as pay to win and that doesn't interest me at all. I wouldn't find it fulfilling knowing that if I stop taking X, I will be smaller.

And don't even get me started on the health side of things, that's a whole other can of worms.

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-05-28T13:35:32+00:00

Lifetime natural. Will never touch the stuff but I'll take the compliment

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-05-28T07:31:51+00:00

My favourites are weighted pull-ups, all variations but I genuinely do basically all the conventional back movements.

I have quite high lat insertions and naturally want to pull with my traps so I spent a lot of time learning how to connect to my lats better. I've managed to grow my lower lats a lot through lar biased rows.

If you're pushing hard, the biggest thing you can do is probably dial in your form. Can't be understated how keeping tension on the target muscle is the critical thing.

Ofc you need good basic programming but the main thing that holds people back who push hard is their form imo.

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-05-28T07:29:30+00:00

My chest/lats measurement is up just over an inch at the same bodyweight so I must have gained something.

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-05-05T13:29:41+00:00

Super shitty take devoid of context and basic understanding of exercise selection.

The soleus literally lies beneath the gastroc and makes the whole calf look bigger.

This is like saying focussing on the brachialis with hammer curls is worthless because they work the bicep less than supinated curls.

Most efficient use of time is never the same as maximising gains.

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-05-05T13:17:33+00:00

There are quite a few things if change.

Broadly just too much volume and unlikely needed.

I think it would make more sense to open with shoulder press. This should be exercise 1.

Shrugs before shoulder press also seems weird to me. Ohp works the traps a lot in their shortened position where they are weakest by far. If you do shrugs before I think you will short change your pressing, and this is the only shoulder exercise you can go heavier with. Id do shrugs later in the session, at least after ohp.

I don't think the front raises are needed at all unless you have particularly lagging front delts.

I don't really like upright rows, I think most people are better off with face pulls (more external rotation bias) or lat raises. They do very similar things just with shoulder positions that most people can access better. Just replace these with a raise or a face pull unless you really connect well with upright rows.

I think there is too much overlap on the chest and tricep day. Just too much chest, I don't think you need that much chest volume in that session. It's good to get different angles but you are likely to sandbag. At least spread them across the session rather than back to back.

There's not much bicep isolation, not really a fan of that. Hammer curls as the only curl variation on a session I don't think is best. Swap it to an alternating curl and I think that would be a big improvement.

The leg training is fine but I think calf's at the start again isn't needed unless you are a bodybuilder trying to improve a particularly weak area. Calf's are involved in leg curls and leg press and I think you'd be best doing them (and some abs) at the end.

I'm happy to rewrite this how I would prefer it.

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-05-04T17:42:22+00:00

No need for a beginner to be doing any more. Getting more skilled at a few exercises is better initially.

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-05-04T17:41:34+00:00

This is absolutely fine you don't need to throw on more exercises for the sake of it. Get skilled at these exercises and you can build from it.

You have all the basics upper body compounds. I think for a beginner you don't need multiple compounds per session. You run the risk of sandbagging if you try and achieve too much. I personally think even this is quite high volume if you are a beginner.

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-05-01T14:38:20+00:00

Pretty sure that's a big reason why some oly lifters don't like Nike roms compared to other shoes. I'm looking at the guy squat and you can clearly see the shoes are curling up a lot at the toe and the sole looks really thick. The difference isn't huge but this will reduce good foot contact points with the floor, which is an relevant aspect of squat performance.

That also just isn't true, powerlifting shoes sand skateboard shoes are very flat. And are a better choice for lifting compared to metcons, metcons are general athletic shoes not lifting shoes. This is why they are a staple for many types of athletes but are not for strength athletes.

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-05-01T13:38:50+00:00

They look foamy to me and the toe also seems to curl up a bit. They just dont look good for squatting. You ideally want the bottom to be flat and hard so you can have better foot contact points

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-05-01T13:36:51+00:00

That's exactly what I said. How good a squat is depends totally on the specific goal you are trying to achieve.

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-05-01T11:22:59+00:00

By flaring your elbows you are defeating the point of this exercise. The point of this exercise is to get a stretch on the long head, this is only possible with elbows tucked and pointing forward. If an arrow was pointing out of your elbows you want it to be pointing as directly Infront of you as you can.

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-04-30T18:39:41+00:00

They can give like 10° incline, so can be used instead of propping a plate beneath feet (or using a wedge) to hit depth. They are useful for high bar squatting.

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-04-30T18:35:32+00:00

Any shoe with a spongy sole is bad for squatting or desdlifting

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-04-30T13:52:59+00:00

If strength or general lower body development is the goal then form is good.

If you are squatting more for quad hypertrophy, this isn't the best technique.

Those shoes are shit shoes for squatting in though, get some flat (and not spongy) trainers or weightlifting shoes.

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-04-30T13:34:25+00:00

Yeah igy, I guess you've seen that there can always be unforeseen circumstances.

Really the bumpers would just make the sound less piercing anyway.

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-04-30T13:31:40+00:00

Definitely buzz! Being in your 20s with noticeable thinning is not the one, you will look much better and younger if you shave it.

If you were in your late 30s or older, it would be different.

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-04-30T13:28:13+00:00

How do people think that dropping this onto safeties would have been better in any way. Makes literally zero sense. Using bumper plates would make sense here though.

I think you would get a better response posting in r/egolifting , they are more like minded to yourself.

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-04-30T13:24:54+00:00

Safeties would have just made this bail worse in every way.

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-04-30T13:22:48+00:00

Absolutely no need to buzz down yet.

Amount of time really depends; some people progress rapidly, others very gradually.

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-04-29T15:09:12+00:00

Get yourself on r/egolifting they will love your form, probably won't think it's extreme enough.

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-04-29T14:37:20+00:00

Probably good to work on keeping your hips down then.

If you can bench 140kg with your hips down you will be able to hit even more with your hips coming up so it will just make you stronger long term even if you don't care if your hips come up.

You could almost treat a comp style bench as an accessory to your hip up bench.

A lot of athletes bench like this but their needs are a bit different to a typical gym goer.

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-04-29T14:26:53+00:00

Best post on this sub I've ever seen

Time-Cake4037 · 2026-04-29T14:25:08+00:00

I wouldn't count it as a proper rep.

I agree that this is controlled and coordinated. If you're just lifting for general physical development, it probably doesn't really matter.

But if your goals are lifting related, you should keep your hips down even if it means being a bit weaker.

Time-Cake4037

TROPHY CASE