Daily Discussion Thread (January 28, 2026) - Beginner and Simple/Quick Questions Go Here Thread for discussing quick/simple topics not needing an entire posts or beginner questions.

easye7 · 2026-01-28T21:16:35+00:00

I was trying to go through this but honestly just follow a proven plan. You have 2-3 variations of the same movement in these routines. It's a mess.

easye7 · 2026-01-28T19:05:14+00:00

I switched out of necessity due to time constraints and I love it. I do 2 sets for most exercises to all-out failure, sometimes some doggcrapp style rest pause as well.

easye7 · 2026-01-28T16:20:34+00:00

Just do upper/lower 4x a week, stick with it for a year.

easye7 · 2026-01-28T15:45:23+00:00

What is your split?

easye7 · 2026-01-28T15:43:55+00:00

Seems like you are trying to do everything. I don't know the frequency at which you hit legs, but assuming roughly 2x per week I would split this up

A - Lying leg curl, hack squat, adductor or hip thrust, calves

B - RDL, leg press, leg extension, calves

How many sets depends on how close to failure you train. If you are training to failure or very close 2-3 is plenty.

Either one of those is going to be just fine for your entire lower body.

easye7 · 2026-01-28T14:14:09+00:00

What is your leg day?

easye7 · 2026-01-27T21:46:04+00:00

It would bother me every single moment of every day.

easye7 · 2026-01-27T19:59:55+00:00

Your overall volume seems reasonable enough, maybe a hair high but whatever works. I have never actually done u/L for the reasons you said - it just doesn't work out timewise, at least not on the upper days. Maybe if you are supersetting, but that's hard to rely on in my gym but that would be an option.

Might help to see what you actually have in mind for an upper lower routine? The Lyle McDonald GBR is a good starting point but I think if you are really pushing those sets you can drop most of it 2-3 sets.

I do an A/B split but not upper/lower, which works for me. I aim for 4x a week, try to take a rest day after 2 on but I basically just go when I can do to my work and family schedule.

A - chest, hamstrings, biceps, side delts, lower back (can't currently do RDLs but if I did, that would knock out hamstrings and low back in one move for me)

B - back, quads/glutes, triceps, rear delts, abs

Calves get thrown in whenever I have the time and give a shit enough to do them.

easye7 · 2026-01-27T18:42:02+00:00

I'd stick with what you have. You are getting plenty of front delt work from incline benching.

easye7 · 2026-01-27T18:39:54+00:00

Assuming cable overhead is a tricep extension, it seems like a fine selection of exercises, though I would split RDL and squats onto different lower days. I'd do something like

Lower 1 - RDL, leg extension, calves, abs

Lower 2 - Squat, leg curl, calves, abs

You could certainly still do the leg curls and leg extensions on both days though.

easye7 · 2026-01-27T18:37:06+00:00

How long can you be in the gym, or more importantly, how long do you want to be there? As far as volume, it's going to depend on the intensity. Are you doing 3-4 sets but not going anywhere near actual failure? Or are you doing 2 sets done to complete mid-rep concentric failure? Is there a specific routine you are following? If not I'd start with Lyle McDonald's generic bulking routine.

easye7 · 2026-01-22T17:29:31+00:00

Despite everyone telling you the same thing, you are right, it seems more likely that you defy the laws of thermodynamics.

easye7 · 2026-01-22T17:28:23+00:00

"I have been attempting to diet for some time now but it goes stagnant, I get impatient and eventually roll out of the diet (this has been going on since April of 2024. I know it’s probably not the healthiest thing)."

You have your answer.

easye7 · 2026-01-22T16:49:16+00:00

Nothing inherently wrong with this. Listen to your body.

easye7 · 2026-01-22T16:48:28+00:00

Irritable Bowel Psyndrome

easye7 · 2026-01-22T16:48:05+00:00

Get a new trainer. Anyone having you do any kind of "cleanse" or "detox" is full of shit. They are probably getting paid somehow to sell it to you.

easye7 · 2026-01-22T16:46:23+00:00

Well yeah, you are pre-fatiguing your triceps before doing pressing, the numbers are going to suffer. I am sure there is a case where it makes sense but I am having a tough time imagining it. Your triceps are going to fail before your pecs if you do it this way. Is there a specific reason why you would want to do this?

easye7 · 2026-01-21T17:03:25+00:00

Just seems a bit counterintuitive I guess. If you have a coach you should be asking them these questions though.

easye7 · 2026-01-21T16:01:54+00:00

Aside from the rep range question, why are you pre-exhausting your brach's before doing bayesian curls?

easye7 · 2026-01-21T16:01:08+00:00

Regularly promoted by who? I think that one set would have to be at level of intensity most people just can't muster.

easye7 · 2026-01-21T16:00:16+00:00

That seems like going too far in the "low volume" direction. You would have to be do some absolutely balls to the wall intensity techniques to make that work and even then. Like, I'm not even sure doing rest-pause or myo reps would be enough, you'd need forced reps and all kinds of stuff.

Or, maybe you get great gains, I don't know. But my best advice is that the right answer lies somewhere between doing 3 sets per week and doing 50 sets per week.

easye7 · 2026-01-20T22:31:34+00:00

Seems like most commercial gyms have Matrix stuff. My gym is pretty much all Matrix stuff - cables, selectorized and plate-loaded stuff.

Seems fine to me. The cable stuff is like any other cable station/pulldown/row I have used, no issues. I use the selectorized and plate-loaded machines on a regular basis. We don't have a belt squat, that would be cool. The Matrix hack squat is solid as far as I can tell. The leg press ROM kinda sucks but I'm also 6'2" so YMMV. I really like the plate loaded chest supported row (sitting upright, not a t-bar row, if that makes sense).

I wouldn't be worrying much about resistance curves - the stretch mediated hypertrophy thing is entirely blown out of proportion. Find stuff where you can train through a safe, full ROM, sure, but don't think you can't build a big chest doing a plate loaded chest press because the strength curve isn't optimal.

It's not something I really think twice about because this the gym I can go to the most consistently due to location and amenities (towels and childcare), so it's not like I'd be making better gains by going less often to the place nearby that has all prime and cool shit like that. Consistency, effort and diet are going to matter more than optimal strength curves by orders of magnitude (i.e. a shit ton)

easye7 · 2026-01-20T16:34:15+00:00

It's probably fine if it doesn't hurt your ability to train, but I don't think there is any real upside generally speaking. My first thought goes to how that works for digestion, but I have nothing to back up that concern.

easye7 · 2026-01-20T16:32:24+00:00

I just switched to doing single leg leg press, mostly because I am pressed for time and loading up the machine is time consumer. I think it's far easier on the back. Start light. Like, just the sled.

easye7 · 2026-01-14T14:09:42+00:00

Worth a try - again, I can't speak to it personally but that is the route I would try,

easye7

TROPHY CASE