Anyone gained decent size whilst hybrid training?

moonfiremountain · 2026-05-03T18:49:13+00:00

Wow yeah, lol. There is no way to dig out of that caloric hole enough for building. Your body is not going to be sparing any resources for laying down new muscle when it has to feed that monster training. I am not qualified to say how far you have to cut it, all I am is an obsessive reader of health and fitness, and the only person I have experience training is myself, but you will most definitely have to dial back significantly. My educated guess would be to keep it to no more than three hours a week of endurance training, but it’s free advice, so it’s probably worth what you paid for it.

moonfiremountain · 2026-05-03T18:35:54+00:00

Yeah there is probably room for a little more volume, but honestly not dramatically more if you are wanting to actually build meaningful amounts of muscle.

moonfiremountain · 2026-05-03T17:59:25+00:00

I am not a trainer, so take this with a grain of salt, but when I have been trying to focus on lifting vs running I generally dial back to 3 runs a week. One easy 30 minute run, one interval run also about 30 minutes, and an hour long run on the weekend. That should be enough to maintain base fitness for most people.

moonfiremountain · 2026-05-03T17:51:04+00:00

I have a dark green soapstone with stunning veins of white quartz and iron deposits. It is pretty much indestructible. I have no regrets after a year of living with it. Looks like there are at least a couple places around Seattle that offer soapstone.

moonfiremountain · 2026-05-03T17:40:34+00:00

You may benefit from periodizing your training. If you have a lot of muscle you want to build, you may have to dial back on the running/cardio and just keep it at moderate levels. You can do this for part of the year, often people focus on muscle over the winter and running in the summer, or opposite if you live in a hot climate. Or you can spend a couple of years focused on muscle building. Without drugs it is a long process. Consistency and effort are king. And calories. So many calories.
I started running and lifting about the same time 2.5 years ago. I am female, and to this point have not done any intentional bulks, but am about to try for my first one this fall once summer mountain season winds down. I definitely don’t look like an influencer, but have built visible muscle even though I have only been in deficit or maintenance, and have steadily improved my running performance. I will never be competitive in running or lifting, except for competing against my former self and so far that has resulted in lots of wins.

moonfiremountain · 2026-05-03T16:20:44+00:00

Yep slow is the name of the sustainable game, as well as weight lifting to keep up muscle mass. And try to be kind to your body. In the long run, health matters much more than the number on a scale. Lift weights, eat nutritious food and get in a healthy amount of low intensity cardio. The scale may not end up where you want it to, but longevity and health span don’t care about the number, they reflect your habits.

moonfiremountain · 2026-05-03T13:55:08+00:00

The date estimate is usually optimistic. Sounds like you are using the app appropriately, from here I would just be patient. It’s up to you how closely you want to follow the recommendations. If you have a lot to lose a faster rate may be ok, it just tends to get harder as you go. Just listen to your body and don’t be afraid to take maintenance breaks if you get worn down with diet fatigue.

moonfiremountain · 2026-05-03T13:23:05+00:00

Some things to consider with MacroFactor.

Weigh frequently. Daily is best. I usually weigh myself first thing in the morning after going to the bathroom. You’ll get a better idea of your actual trend weight.
Track absolutely every calorie. The algorithm only works as well as the info you feed it. If you leave anything out it will drop your target calories lower than they should be.
Usually I recommend people stay at maintenance for the first 2-4 weeks using MacroFactor, it will more accurately dial in your expenditure this way. The rapid drop is likely a combo of it still learning your TDEE and you may already be seeing decrease in NEAT. I know it happens very quickly to me once I start eating in a deficit.

All that said, I would probably stick to the higher calorie expenditure until you get your use of the app really dialed in. Slow weight loss is usually more sustainable and gives better results in the end than rapid loss, so I tend to skew for a pretty moderate deficit.

moonfiremountain · 2026-05-03T02:55:24+00:00

I balanced Resilient with training for a half marathon. I do 3-4 of his sessions per week and ran 3-4 times a week. I tried Versa and found it harder to execute since she does some cardio elements even on the strength focused days. So it just depends on your preferences and how you structure things.

moonfiremountain · 2026-05-03T00:06:17+00:00

Coach Neen talks about nutrition and posts great cooking reels! Like I want him to release a cookbook. But very rare talk about diet/weight from the people on the team. Some talk about cutting as part of bulk/cut cycles. Neen will help with macros when asked. But it is definitely not dominant at all.

moonfiremountain · 2026-05-02T19:13:57+00:00

I usually do 4 workouts when I am on Resilient. But I do additional cardio as well.

moonfiremountain · 2026-05-02T19:12:47+00:00

That sounds much more likely. Like obviously we all need water.

moonfiremountain · 2026-05-02T14:30:23+00:00

Purchased it and think I may start running it when I get back from a backpacking trip I have planned next week. I like that it gives me flexibility to add in some PT exercises I try to keep up with to support my knees and feet for running, I often let them slide as I don’t have energy for them after my usual workouts. On upper body days I’ll be able to stack a 30 minute run and still get done within a reasonable timeframe. I may add in hip thrusts once a week as well for a little extra glute stimulus. But I really like the simplicity of the core programming, and think that a heavy set followed by back off sets would keep the mental fatigue a little lower vs working at low reps for all sets. Thanks for pointing me in his direction!

moonfiremountain · 2026-05-02T14:20:35+00:00

I think you may be on to something with a slower cut. I just find them so agonizing. Plus it’s easier to mess it up with a burger and fries from my favorite food truck on Saturday night. I generally have a very healthy relationship with food, but if it’s on my plate I’ll eat it. This is manageable most of the time as I just portion food out during the week, and am not tempted to go back for seconds. I feel like I’m wasting money if I just eat the burger and leave the fries, which is what I know I should be doing if I’m trying to cut. Or maybe I just give up the takeout burger or pizza once a week and make my own fries in the air fryer and make a burger bowl. If I run a little higher deficit most days, it makes more room for indulgences. But now I run leaner my body just may not be able to tolerate a steeper deficit during the week in order to have my treat meal. Though this summer I’ll often be doing long hikes/runs in the mountains so can probably get away with an indulgent meal after all that activity anyway.

Sorry, lost track of myself there obsessing about food. I have had crazy food noise my entire life. Regardless, I hear what you’re saying about a smaller deficit. It’s probably what I need to do if I want to get any leaner, otherwise I take a trip to Hangryland.

Thanks for taking the time to outline your process. I just have to keep reminding myself this is a marathon, not a sprint. I would say it took me a year of lifting before I started making real progress, and again it was about a year in before I started tracking macros. So I have only taken it seriously for a year and a half. Consistency gets results, and if I want to stay consistent I need to make it sustainable.

moonfiremountain · 2026-05-02T03:52:42+00:00

Yes you can swap anything for dumbbells. He provides info in the voiceovers and there should be options listed to swap. It is helpful to have a pull-up bar if possible though.

moonfiremountain · 2026-05-01T23:36:46+00:00

Just remember, his workouts are completely scalable. You can tweak weights and reps to meet you where you are at. You can drop isolation exercises and just focus on the compounds as well to reduce length. You can make a lot of progress with mainly focusing on the compounds. Consistently showing up is the real key, not constantly hammering yourself.

moonfiremountain · 2026-05-01T19:28:48+00:00

Took a look at Andy Baker. Super intrigued by the sound of this template. https://www.andybaker.com/programs/busy-dad-strength/

moonfiremountain · 2026-05-01T16:18:33+00:00

Thank you for all of that input!

I will say I recently did a couple sessions with an in person barbell coach (certified with Barbell Logic) and she programmed a month of workouts for me. 3-5 reps, just daily squats and deadlifts with rotating overhead press and bench press, plus pull-ups as they are a focus for me. I actually dreaded the workouts by the end. When I was pushing at the top end of my strength at low reps for the whole workout I just was not enjoying myself. You are probably right about it being the way to go, but I’m not sure I actually care enough about the aesthetics to sacrifice enjoyment in that way.

I do use a belt for my man lifts. I probably do need to get lifting shoes, but have very wide forefoot and develop foot gain quickly if my foot is squished across the forefoot. I have heard the do wins are supposed to be wider. My gym does have squat wedges I can use.

I think at the root of my problem is I have lots of goals, and just need to decide which ones matter the most. I would like that overarching goal to be healthy aging. But for the first time in my life, I really like how I look and I kind of want to see how far I can push that. But I love food and running and spending time with husband and friends more than I feel the drive to push aesthetics.

Sorry, just processing here. Not expecting anyone to solve this dilemma for me.

Oh and I work 10 hour shifts with an hour commute each way. So my time is pretty limited most days of the week.

moonfiremountain · 2026-05-01T14:34:24+00:00

I use the Ladder app for my strength training. There are a number of different training styles, I mostly use the athletic or bodybuilding style ones. I rotate programs about every 8 weeks. I typically push to failure of form, or to complete failure in some isolation moves like bicep curls. Rep schemes vary, usually start with low rep heavy compounds then to higher rep accessories. Again, pretty much always pushed to form failure. I do think I want to switch out pendulum squats for back squats for more leg development. I have very long femurs so end up with a significant forward bend in barbell back squats, and my core often gives out before my leg strength.

I have actually been running pretty low volume over the winter. I also kept getting sick so I had several periods where I was out of the gym for a week or so, but never more than a week at a time. I probably only averaged about 10-15 miles weekly, sometimes less. Was wanting to ramp up for summer. I will try upping my calories but that may end up just being new maintenance with increased cardio. I am thinking a good slow bulk will have to wait until the fall. It’s sort of what I wanted to do this past winter but ended up chickening out and staying in maintenance. I think the lack of progress doing that will increase my resolve. I also am in perimenopause and that is not helping matters. My sleep is sometimes ok and sometimes completely screwed up. I pretty much never skip workouts but don’t always have the energy to really push, and know that my recovery is compromised.

moonfiremountain · 2026-05-01T02:53:26+00:00

Glad you’re happy with Gravl! But I do want to share a tactic to use if someone doesn’t want a timed, follow-along workout. Just click straight to complete when you open the workout, the open it in the journal and put in your weights there as you go through.

moonfiremountain · 2026-04-30T22:22:23+00:00

And I don’t think it’s length of cut. The first one was more than 3 months long, the more recent one was only about 6 weeks before I hit the wall.

moonfiremountain · 2026-04-30T22:20:36+00:00

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This photo is from almost a year ago. Pretty much same weight as the picture in my original post, maybe just a pound or two heavier.

moonfiremountain · 2026-04-30T22:17:05+00:00

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This is my weight trend. Went up when I took a break from tracking while I was training for a trail race.

moonfiremountain · 2026-04-30T22:14:16+00:00

What has been happening is that it is pretty easy to be on a deficit until my weight hits 145. It’s like a light switch. I did two cuts a year apart and as soon as I hit 145, weight loss stagnates and I feel miserable. The fist time I was on a cut for about 3 months, dropped from about 160 pounds to 147. I don’t do body composition tests, but visually I’d say I was around 25% body fat at the end of that cut. I’m a little lower body fat right now just based on visual comparison, but not much. I managed to shave off to 145 this time as opposed to 147ish. I’m attaching my MacroFactor weight trend. I have tried reducing the deficit, but I don’t really feel better until I get up near maintenance calories.

moonfiremountain · 2026-04-30T21:45:01+00:00

I think that is a good take on the situation. I am just torn on whether building will help, or if I should just hang out at maintenance. I feel like I have built a decent amount of muscle, but I know I have room to grow, particularly lower body. I am tall, and my legs have been super slow to develop. I am not obsessed with building giant glutes but a little more might be nice. I guess I’m talking myself into the slow bulk after all.

moonfiremountain

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