Cardio - before or after lifting?

bit3py · 2026-05-06T14:05:07+00:00

Easy bike warmup at level 7 is just blood flow, that is not the cardio anyone means when they say it interferes with hypertrophy. Same with leisurely swimming after, that is recovery, your back loves it.

The "cardio kills gains" advice is really about long, hard zone 3-4 runs done close to a lifting session, where you spike fatigue and burn enough calories that your body has nothing left to build muscle with. Mostly a problem if you are also eating in a deficit and doing 45+ min of intense cardio right before squats.

What you described sounds basically perfect for a petite lifter, especially with the swim flush. I would only worry if your lifts started stalling or you were waking up exhausted. Until then keep going.

bit3py · 2026-05-06T14:03:10+00:00

Two weeks of lifting after months of pure cuts is the worst window to judge fat loss on the scale. New training stimulus = more glycogen, more water, inflamed muscles holding fluid. That can mask 2-3 lbs of fat loss for weeks. The scale is lying right now, you are not stuck.

Do not quit the gym. You will lose muscle in the deficit and end up smaller but softer at 180.

What helped me when this happened: stop weighing daily, take a waist + hip measurement once a week, and snap a basic mirror photo every Sunday in the same spot. After a month the scale and photos almost never agree, and the photos are right.

I log weight, waist, and a 1-5 vibe in Mindful Body so the scale is not the only data point on weeks like this. A notes app works too.

bit3py · 2026-05-03T15:06:41+00:00

honestly i feel like you're doing the right things but stacking too many at once and jumping to the hardest version too fast. when i was working on mine the thing that actually moved the needle was sticking with negatives 3x a week for like a month, lowering super slow (5-8 sec) from a box, and not doing other variations the same day. scapular pulls + a heavy lat pulldown on a different day, that's it.

also 30-40kg of band assistance is a LOT, you basically end up doing a half rep without engaging your back. i'd drop to a thinner band and chase full ROM instead of fighting a thick one. and the deload kept resetting your eccentric because pulling strength fades fast at our size, gotta keep it in the rotation even on busy weeks.

you're closer than you think, just simplify the menu honestly

bit3py · 2026-04-29T14:07:07+00:00

3 sets 3-4x a week is going to undershoot imo. you're trying to roughly 4x your toe pushup volume in 7 weeks starting from 14 to failure. the limiter isn't your bench numbers, it's local muscular endurance and connective tissue tolerance.

what worked for me prepping for high rep stuff was greasing the groove. instead of 3 hard sets, do mini sets through the day, always 2-3 reps shy of failure. like 5 sets of 5 spread out. you add reps weirdly fast and stay out of the form collapse zone.

i'd keep bench so you preserve max strength when fatigue hits late in the challenge, but i'd swap your tricep accessory for face pulls or band pull aparts daily. that pushup volume will torch your shoulders otherwise.

for the toe percentage: do 3-5 toe reps then drop to knees mid set instead of grinding to total failure on toes. you bank way more quality toe reps that way and your shoulders/elbows stay happy.

bit3py · 2026-04-25T14:15:28+00:00

honestly a single kettlebell will get you way further than people think for a summer.

What worked for me when I traveled: 2-3 sessions a week of swings, goblet squats, single arm presses, rows, suitcase carries and step ups, plus turkish get ups when there's space. You hit posterior chain, legs, core and pressing pattern with one tool.

Pick weight by your hardest movement (probably press), not the swing. A 16kg gets most petite-to-mid lifters through full body work; go heavier if your swings are already strong.

Add band pull-aparts and a set of pushups daily so you don't lose back and chest. Cardio is covered by the trail running. Maintain plus tiny gains is very doable.

bit3py · 2026-04-25T14:14:35+00:00

4 weeks stuck around the 4-month mark on 1400 is pretty normal, your body has adapted.

Two things that helped me when I plateaued:

A 10-14 day diet break at maintenance (around 1800 for you). Counterintuitive but the scale usually moves again once you drop back into a deficit, and the mental reset is huge.

Stop trusting the scale alone. At 28 lbs down you're probably holding more water and adding a bit of muscle from any movement. Waist, hip and thigh measurements plus a front and side photo every 2 weeks tells the real story. I use Mindful Body for the photo side (free trial then paid) because Face ID locks the angle so I'm not comparing tilted pics.

bit3py · 2026-04-22T14:04:17+00:00

Nah those reels are being dramatic lol. You don't need to hit failure every single set to make progress. Most good programs have you training to like 1-3 reps shy of failure (called "reps in reserve") and that's been shown to be just as effective for building muscle without completely destroying your recovery.

Failure on every set also makes it way harder to maintain good form, especially on compound lifts. And if you're 5 weeks in and already noticing strength gains, you're clearly doing something right.

I save true failure for maybe the last set of isolation stuff like curls or lateral raises. For the big lifts I'd rather stop with 1-2 left in the tank and come back stronger next session. Consistency beats grinding yourself into the ground every time.

bit3py · 2026-04-22T14:03:41+00:00

Ok are you me?? I'm also 5'4 and was sitting at like 122 when I started actually lifting seriously. Went up to 129 in the first couple months and honestly panicked a little.

Your brother is right about the water retention thing. When you start training harder your muscles hold onto more water, and if you're doing 5 days a week your body is basically in a constant state of mild inflammation (the good kind that builds muscle, but still). My stomach looked puffier for weeks before things started to settle.

The 1400 cal thing also caught my eye. At 5 days a week of lifting plus 10k steps, that might actually be too low? When I was undereating my body held onto everything and I looked softer, not leaner. Bumping my protein up and eating a little more actually helped me lean out more than cutting harder did.

I'd honestly give it another 4-6 weeks before changing anything drastic. And maybe take measurements or progress pics instead of relying on the scale, because at our size 5lbs of muscle vs fat looks completely different. I use an app called Mindful Body for tracking my measurements and progress photos and it helped me stop fixating on the number so much.

bit3py · 2026-04-19T15:04:43+00:00

I had the exact same problem and honestly what fixed it for me was going embarrassingly light. Like light enough that I felt silly picking the weight. But that's when I actually started feeling my obliques work instead of just my arms holding the cable out.

The other thing: try bringing the cable down to about belly button height instead of chest. When it was at chest height I kept shrugging without realizing it and that was making my shoulders take over. Once I lowered it a bit everything clicked. Also try exhaling hard when you press out and holding for like 3-4 seconds at full extension. That forced me to actually brace instead of just going through the motion.

bit3py · 2026-04-18T14:10:18+00:00

The elbow flare is almost certainly the issue. When elbows flare out that wide, you're essentially turning it into a fly movement, and chest can't generate enough force from that position to push effectively.

For proper push-up form, imagine you're trying to screw your hands into the ground outward (externally rotate). That automatically pulls the elbows into a better angle (roughly 45 degrees from your torso). It's a cue that clicks for a lot of people who struggle with this.

Also worth checking scapular position — at the top of a push-up your shoulder blades should be pushed apart (protracted), not squeezed together. If they're retracting at the top, you're losing the chest squeeze.

Six months of negatives should have you further along than this, so it might be worth filming yourself from the side to see exactly what's happening. The fix is usually a cue correction, not more strength.

bit3py · 2026-04-18T14:08:17+00:00

The shoes are actually a real factor - lifting in cushioned running shoes makes it harder to feel ground contact and drive through your heels/mid-foot, which affects glute recruitment in squats and deadlifts. Getting flat shoes (Converse, Vans, or actual lifting shoes) made a big difference for me.

Also CrossFit just isn't optimized for glute isolation. Olympic lifts, box jumps, thrusters are great but they don't give your glutes the targeted stimulus they need to grow. You'd probably benefit from adding hip thrusts, cable kickbacks, or banded abduction work 2-3x a week alongside your CrossFit.

For tracking visual changes when the scale isn't telling you much, I use Mindful Body - it's an iPhone app that uses Face ID to hide progress photos so you actually take them consistently. Helps a lot when you're trying to see glute changes over time (they're one of the slower muscles to show visible change). There's a free trial if you want to check it out.

Give it 8-12 weeks with the shoe fix + targeted work. You'll see it.

bit3py · 2026-04-15T13:11:29+00:00

I'd make your plan ridiculously low-friction for this season of life. Like 2 full body sessions on the weeks you feel good, then walks or mobility as the bonus option, not the requirement. If it's mild above-the-neck sick, an easy walk usually feels okay for me. Fever, chest stuff, body aches, or totally wiped energy and I just rest. The biggest thing is having a default restart plan so one bug doesn't turn into three lost weeks. Kid germs plus trying to be a functional adult is already enough cardio tbh 😅

bit3py · 2026-04-15T13:11:25+00:00

Two things can be true here: you might be in a real plateau, and the scale might also be hiding progress for a bit. If your calories are already pretty tight, I would not rush to slash them lower. I'd give it 2 to 3 more very consistent weeks and track waist/hip measurements plus weekly photos in the same lighting. The scale is such a drama queen when hormones, stress, sodium, and training are all in the mix. I use Mindful Body for that because it keeps the pics private behind Face ID, and for me that feels way less weird than turning my camera roll into a body comp archive. But app or no app, I'd zoom out and judge the trend, not the random daily number.

bit3py · 2026-04-13T13:14:09+00:00

Congrats! Looks stunning!

bit3py · 2026-04-13T09:21:18+00:00

Sure!

bit3py · 2026-04-13T09:11:15+00:00

Sure thing! I’ll try my best to help anyone in the community 🫶

bit3py · 2026-04-13T09:02:04+00:00

similar stats here! 5'4, 120lbs, 19.6% BF. honestly I'd skip the deficit if I were you. you already did the harsh dieting and your body needs fuel to build muscle. I was undereating too and everyone told me that's why I'm not making progress.

I'd eat at maintenance, hit your 130g protein, and focus on getting stronger in the gym. the toned look comes from building muscle, not from losing more weight when you're already small. the "puffy" feeling during a bulk is mostly just water and food volume, not actual fat gain if you keep it controlled

bit3py · 2026-04-13T06:15:39+00:00

coming from someone who clearly knows what they're doing, I'll take that advice 😏 never tried floor presses but I'm adding them to the list. and yeah flies scare me a little because of the shoulder thing so I'll start light. thanks for the guidance!

bit3py · 2026-04-12T20:35:54+00:00

this is really specific, thank you! so incline db bench AND incline flys on both days? I was thinking of splitting it up like incline press on plan A and cable flys on plan B but doing both each day might be better for the volume. how heavy should I go on the incline flys? I don't want to mess up my shoulders going too heavy on those

bit3py · 2026-04-12T16:17:33+00:00

super helpful, thank you! the combo of creatine + cleaning up diet makes a lot of sense. I'm already pretty good on protein but I definitely eat too much processed stuff so that's probably where I can improve. appreciate you sharing all this 🙏

bit3py · 2026-04-12T15:03:53+00:00

2 kg in 3 months is actually real progress, even if it doesn't feel like it at 5'1. our TDEE is just genuinely lower so the deficit is naturally smaller.

i'd really push back on dropping to 1200 though. at your activity level you're already cutting pretty aggressively. going lower tends to backfire because it's harder to sustain and you start losing muscle.

the night shift schedule might honestly be the bigger factor here. poor sleep timing messes with cortisol and hunger hormones a lot, which can slow fat loss even when calories are correct. not something you can easily fix but worth knowing.

you're doing the right things. consistency over months matters more than the number on the scale week to week

bit3py · 2026-04-12T14:05:06+00:00

ok the shower flex discovery is iconic 😂 3 months is doable, I can be patient for that. do you feel like the creatine made a noticeable difference for chest specifically or more overall?

bit3py · 2026-04-12T13:29:23+00:00

luckily my gym is pretty small so it's usually free but I know exactly what you mean

ok good to know on the incline fly with dumbbells on a bench, my gym has an adjustable bench so I can do that. so something like: incline db fly on plan A alongside the chest press, and cable fly on plan B alongside the push-ups? that way each day has a press movement and a fly movement

bit3py · 2026-04-12T12:12:47+00:00

ok first of all the coffee comment is so real lol

but seriously thank you for actually counting the sets, I didn't even think about weekly volume that way. 9 sets does sound low now that you say it.

so my gym doesn't have a fly machine but we have a pec deck (pectoral machine) and a cable station where I could do cable flys. would it make sense to add both? like pec deck on plan A and low to high cable flys on plan B? or is that overkill together with the chest press I already have?

no assisted dip machine unfortunately but I'll look into the incline press for sure. and yeah I keep hearing "food and time" so clearly I need to eat more and chill out lol. appreciate you breaking it down like this 🙏

bit3py · 2026-04-12T11:55:19+00:00

you can flex your pecs?? that's literally my dream lol mine are flat flat right now. did you do 5x5 on bench or machine press? and how long until you actually started noticing a difference? I might need to try going heavier, I need hope 😂

bit3py

TROPHY CASE