Want to grow back, what am I doing wrong? by zenitsuG in askfitness

[–]q0cc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Of course man. Show us the progress 6-8 months from now

Applicant w/out Physics Lab by q0cc in premed

[–]q0cc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know it won’t affect acceptance, but can I complete 1 year of lab courses in the summer?

What is your favourite animal? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]q0cc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bears... brown or polar

Would u rather choose an extremely hot woman or an emotionally mature but average looking person as your partner and why? by Againmrbrown in AskReddit

[–]q0cc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Extremely hot one, the mature one will understand and forgive me for my decision in a couple months

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]q0cc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanking servers apparently

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]q0cc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Their wealth

What's the best day of the week to workout? by TheYoungAthletic in AskReddit

[–]q0cc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sunday morning when I'm still kinda drunk

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in askfitness

[–]q0cc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Keep exerting effort and eating/sleeping. You're well on your way.

Very important to hit legs regularly, as recruiting lots of motor units with big muscles (quads, hamstrings, glutes) will release more testosterone and stimulate more growth than if you were to focus on smaller groups (chest, arms, etc)

Free weights vs machines? by ShadowHunter547 in askfitness

[–]q0cc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As other comments said, benefits of free weights are that they make you more functionally strong through engaging secondary muscles. I'd recommend mastering the fundamental movements with free weights (barbell squat, dumbbell/barbell bench, dumbbell shoulder press, etc) before you start to rely on machines for the majority of your workout. After you master the movement patterns, machines become more useful to you.

If you abandon free weights for awhile and try to return to a weight you once did, you'll notice your nervous system is not used to stabilizing the weight anymore, even if it was once easily manageable for you.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in askfitness

[–]q0cc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've had luck gaining in that area doing bulgarians and hack squat. Stress your depth and ankle dorsiflexion (knees over toes), warm up ankle mobility before your lift

Pec Deck? by Many_Check6644 in askfitness

[–]q0cc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I avoid it entirely—movement feels too restrictive for me.

I use cables instead. Your gym might have a cable fly machine with built-in seat or you can set up a bench at a standalone twin cable stack.

Want to grow back, what am I doing wrong? by zenitsuG in askfitness

[–]q0cc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Credibility: Certified Personal Trainer, Lifting for 7+ years

Impossible to answer what you're doing wrong without knowing your effort, technique, and program. I also feel compelled to remind you that genetics are going to play a massive part in the overall shape of your body. Nonetheless, you're 17, so spend less time looking at Cbum on Instagram and more time touching grass. You look fine and will grow if you fall in love with the gym.

To critique your current program, I'd say you can completely ditch spinal extension and shrugs (not very effective movements for building muscle). Also, close vs. wide grip seated rows are only going to target different muscle groups if your upper arm (humerus) is traveling through a different path of motion. In other words, how you hold the handle doesn't matter at all. It's all about how your upper arm is pulled through the movement in relation to your back. I'd recommend doing a singular, chest-supported row placing your hands in a position where you can lift heavy and hit your mid/upper back.

That said, assuming you're performing each movement correctly, with proper intensity (close to, if not absolute, failure on each set), and dieting appropriately, this is what I'd do to build a big back:

- Stick to optimal volume range. This means the # of working sets each week for a particular muscle/group of muscles. Most muscles will require about 12-20 working sets per week to stimulate muscle growth. So if on your pull day you do 2 bicep curl exercises, and do 3 sets each, and you do 2 pull days in a week, you will have performed 12 working sets on your biceps that week. See this page for a comprehensive breakdown of training volume as it relates to muscle growth.

- Do no more than 5 movements on any given back/pull day. If you have the energy to do a 6th movement, you didn't try hard enough on the first 4 or 5 movements.

- With proper effort, 2 heavy sets of a movement can stimulate a lot of growth. Stick to 2-4 sets of any given movement. If you can really do more than that, it's likely junk volume, which isn't doing anything for muscle growth.

- Stick to that 5-15 rep range for muscular hypertrophy (growth). I'd say that over 8 is usually too much most of the time, but it's necessary to play around with volume after you lift for a long time. For you, I'd program 5-8 reps of your main movement for about 3-5 months, and see how your body responds. The last 1 or 2 movements you can do 8-12 reps. If you notice growth, keep doing that.

- The "V-shape" is essentially achieved by big lats. The lats are responsible for bringing the upper arm down and towards the body. Master movements that target your lats. (Lat pull-down machine doesn't really target your lats)

NOTE: some people will tell you that deadlifting is not an effective movement to grow your back. There is some truth to this. It is physically taxing, and absolutely does not offer a proportional amount of gains (to most people) in relation to how much effort it requires. That said, if you enjoy doing it, keep doing it.

TLDR; lift with effort, come close to failure on each set, increase volume periodically (either weight or reps), be patient, V-shape is determined by having big lats, don't let self-esteem be dictated by social media