In the hopes of reducing the amount of low quality, simple, and beginner posts on the sub we are going to try a weekly question thread. It would help if users keep it sorted by new and check in every few days to help people out.
@paparazi257 Went to the gym this morning, was warming up to do squats and I felt stiffer / less flexibility than usual in my legs and back, “weak” in my lower back, with some slight pain. I was bracing my core and had good form so that is not the issue. Indeed, this is something that has happened every once in a while across years. I have never had significant back issues - it just feels like every once in a while my body tells me “do not squat” even before legs tire out at all. Again, this was during warm up so not like I was doing any heavy weight. I checked my ego at the door and went to do leg press rather than snap something.
Interestingly, this did not cause any issue on deadlifts, I suppose due to different angles. I am in a caloric deficit but don’t think that is the issue - again this is something that has happened in the past, seemingly at random, and anyway didn’t affect other lifts.
What could this be due to and is there anything I can do to avoid this happening?
@leozw If you don't do any reckless stuff in the gym (chronic use of bad form and always using low reps and heavy weight), lower back problems are usually more related to your lifestyle and not to what you do in the gym, the existing problem just manifests in the gym because you stress the problem area.
@niecey85 That’s what I suspected - probably sitting all day with a non perfect posture does not help. Hopefully fixing that + McGill Big Three will resolve that.
@paparazi257 Hello, I need some advice for making my new workout plan.
So I am making my own workout plan. I just wanted to ask if you guys change your exercises in a 2 week split (first week workout then different second week workout and then back to 1) or do you just make a workout plan for a single week and repeat it until the end of your mesocycle.
I've only done 2 week splits in the past and was wondering if there is any benefit of sticking to a single week plan for weeks on end.
@paparazi257 What are yalls thoughts on unilateral exercises to fix imbalances between the left and right side? My right chest is clearly weaker and smaller than left.
@thetford I do them, but I try to record myself on video before doing work then I do weekly check ups. My right delt looks bigger in the mirror, but in reality my left is actually smaller.
I give lagging body parts 3-5 extra sets and more intensity than the dominant body part until they look about the same in my check ups.
@masonbrown As in record to use it as a way to compare before and after? Or record during the exercise.
Honestly I feel like my right chest is way smaller that I’m starting to thing it has to do with more than just workout, I noticed my right ribcage is protruding a bit more than my left, with some googling I concluded it could be a case of Pectus excavatum, one of its symptoms is apparently a weaker chest.
@thetford Yes I record full body videos from the same distance and framing then I compare my physique from the previous periods. Weekly is perfect for me since I used to do this every 2 months and I ended up overworking one side and under working once side and it became lopsided the other way.
You also need to use the back camera instead of the front because your phone could be shooting in mirror mode if you use the front camera.
Try it and you'll be able to see asymmetry easier and whether you have any misalignment. Imbalances could also be due to posture imbalances.
