Thread by @YouActualized, Do YOU want to be an aesthetic stud?Maybe pack on some muscle?Maybe [...]

Do YOU want to be an aesthetic stud?

Maybe pack on some muscle?

Maybe lose some fat?

Get JACKED AF?

Doesn't matter, you can achieve it all

I'm here to help you do exactly that

Fitness Fundamentals [Thread]

Disclaimer: This advice is directly aimed at natural men

I have helped myself and other dudes achieve their fitness goals

I'm not a personal trainer nor do I have a PhD in sports/nutrition

This data comes from my research throughout the years and personal experimentation

Another Disclaimer: This thread will be mainly focused on fundamentals

I don't care if you think keto is better

In the end, getting jacked, lean, mean, whatever...

Boils down to two things:

1 - Hormones
2 - Math

I'll give you the tools, you're free to choose the tactics

Alright, cool, now that we've got that out of the way

Here's how this works

Everything you need to get your dream physique boils down to 3 things:

1 - Training
2 - Nutrition
3 - Habits

Let's start with training

So, from my own experimentation and research

If you're a natural gym-goer, I believe there are only 3 optimal splits you can take

Full-Body (beginner)
Upper-Lower (intermediate)
Push-Pull-Legs (advanced)

It looks something like this

Now, let me further explain

I'm not saying something like you can't get gains with whatever split you want to use

Homie can get big biceps doing bro splits

I just think that, as a natural individual, it's not as optimal, there are two reasons for that

Let me explain...

Here's how muscle growth actually works (simplified so you don't get confused)

1 - You hit the gym, you break down muscle tissue (Muscle Protein Breakdown)

2 - You rest, sleep, eat, you repair muscle tissue (Muscle Protein Synthesis)

Muscle Growth happens at number 2

If you

1 - sleep well
2 - eat properly (mostly enough protein intake),
3 - stay hydrated,
4 - move (active recovery)

Your body will do the work for you and repair the muscle tissue you broke down on your gym session

When it does, your muscles become a bit stronger aka growth

Now, here's why training frequency > volume

After you train, there's this process called Muscle Protein Synthesis

It pretty much focuses all the protein you consume towards repairing the damaged muscle tissue

Now, for people that take PEDs Muscle Protein Synthesis is increased and lasts longer (which is why they can get away with garbage splits)

But for the natural individual, this process lasts approx from 24 to 72 hours

Which means...

That the protein consumed after that time period will no longer contribute to growing and repairing that specific muscle group

This is the first reason why Frequency beats volume

If you train your muscles more often throughout the week, means extended Muscle Protein Synthesis

So this means that the more you hit a muscle group, the more gains

Alright cool

Where's why high-volume is usually garbage

Boils down to the law of diminishing returns

If you do 24 sets for one muscle group in one session

Each set will be less effective than the last

It's like you're trying to squeeze juice out of a dried orange

It gets to a point where you're just straining your muscles and not really getting much out of it

But it hurts and you feel the pain

And the bros told you No Pain No Gain right?

Wrong

Avoid junk volume

This is why Full Body/Upper Lower/Push Pull Legs is optimal

You're hitting the same body part at least twice a week

Which means you're extending Muscle Protein Synthesis

Which means more gains

(again u can grow doing bro splits, but you'll take longer)

Now let's talk about the actual exercises and rep ranges and number of sets

This is the simple part

Your main focus should be on compound movements

What are compound movements?

Lifts or movements that work multiple body parts at once

1 - Bench Press
2 - Squats
3 - Deadlifts
4 - Rows
5 - Pull ups
6 - Chin ups
7 - Dips
8 - Overhead press

These lifts should be the bulk of your workouts

Focus mainly on compound lifts and squeeze a couple of isolation movements at the end of each session

Focus mainly on compound lifts and squeeze a couple of isolation movements at the end of each session

Let's talk about rep ranges now

I'm a big fan of 4-6-8 for compound movements (depending on what your goal is)

8-12 for isolation

Keep it simple

Wanna build strength = lower reps + heavier weight

Focused on hypertrophy = higher reps + lower weight

Sets keep it 3 to 4 for each exercise

Let's talk about how much weight you should be lifting

I have a pretty simple formula

Pick a rep range? (let's say 8 reps)

You want to lift as heavy as possible for that rep range (meaning u should be hitting failure or almost failure at 8)

Without sacrificing form

That's it

Now, let's talk about progression

Progressive overload

Simple concept

You're knocking out 4 sets of 8 with relative ease?

Add 5 lbs to the lift

Keep adding 5 lbs to the lift until you hit a plateau

Reduce weight a little and work at that weight for a bit

After you do, try to raise the weight again

Another thing I like to do to break plateaus is to change lifts

Let's say I've been doing bench for a while and I'm not able to progress

I switch it to incline bench and focus on tricep movements

Go back to bench and boom, usually regular bench will feel easier

Anyways, now let's talk about the splits themselves

I believe full body is awesome for beginners

Mostly focused on compound lifts, builds you a great foundation

As you progress though and add more weight to your lifts, workouts will become increasingly harder on your body and your nervous system

Which is when you start to spread it out a bit more and move to upper/lower + push pull legs

Keep it simple

Alright, I think that's enough to help you decide on the training side of things

Let's talk about recovery and nutrition

As we covered, this is where growth happens, so it's really important to not neglect this part or you'll be spinning your wheels

Alright, remember when I told you hormones + math is what it boils down to

Let's cover it

When it comes to nutrition, I'm not going to give you a recipe list or a fad diet

Again, this is about principles and fundamentals

I do believe in balance though

Let's talk about it

When it comes to nutrition the math is simple?

1 - Wanna get jacked? 200-500 kcal surplus

2 - Wanna get lean? 200-500 kcal deficit

It's this easy really, don't go higher than that

You'll add unnecessary fat on 1 or breakdown muscle tissue for energy on 2

Alright, let's talk about macro nutrients, what are they?

The big 3

1 - Protein (GET STRONG, GET BIG)
2 - Carbs (Energy)
3 - Fats (Hormone balance)

All are important (imo)

I don't like diets that subtract one of these

But it depends on the individual and goals

When it comes to nutrition, again, I like to keep it simple

1,4 to 1,6g of protein per kilogram (0,7 to 0,8g per lb) if bulking

1,8 to 2g of protein per kilogram (0,9 to 1g per lb) if cutting

When it comes to macros, to me the most important is hitting your daily protein goals

The other two, I just go by default

Eat healthy carbs (sweet potatoes, vegetables, fruit etc)

Eat healthy fats (olive oil, butter, eggs, poultry, fatty fish etc)

I don't like to over complicate it

Hit daily protein intake, fill out the rest of kcals with healthy food

Alright cool

Let's talk now about recovery habits and why they're so important

They keep your TESTOSTERONE IN CHECK

If your T is garbo, you can do everything right and it will still feel like your spinning your wheels

(even tho if ur doing everything right, T should be fine)

Habits that you need to be doing right in order for T and overall to be optimized:

1 - Sleep
2 - Daily sun exposure (for that vitamin D)
3 - Hydration
4 - STOP FAPPING TO PORN CUZ THAT SHIT NOT ONLY KILLS UR T BUT STEALS UR GAINS
5 - Move (walk, stretch)

All essential

Now, let's talk about stress (and it's management)

Cortisol (the hormone produced by stress) is the enemy of T

Too much cortisol and T dips

Which means if you stay in a highly stressful environment for extended periods of time, your T will start dropping eventually

Now cortisol isn't inherently bad, it has it's own role to play

But garbage like high corp and STRESSFUL PEOPLE (those that are stressful for no reason, toxic gf etc) can have a major effect on your T levels

How to cope?

Develop habits that will help you manage stress levels

Shit like breath work, stretching, meditation, yoga, reading fiction etc

All of these things not only help you unplug, but also help you create more resilience to the stressful environment

Practice

Other T killer is processed food

Your dumping garbage in your system and your body has to work extra hard to process all of the garbage

It also creates inflammation in your body, and makes you dumber

Have a cheat meal or two but avoid regular consumption

BONUS:

For better aesthetics, develop traps, forearms, neck and remain lean enough for your jawline to show

My stats are:

179 cms/83 kgs (I have big legs)

Converts to aprox 5'11 and 182 lbs

Still got work to do myself

Also

Things like intermittent fasting and vitamin supplements (to fill up some deficiency you might have) are also endorsed by David Mendes

Whey protein if you have a hard time hitting your daily protein intake through regular food

I just gave you all the fundamentals for you to build an Aesthetic af physique

Now you gotta do the work and stay consistent, LFG

This is the end, hope it helps you, a RT would be appreciated

Have a great day https://twitter.com/YouActualized/status/1319267616398188544

https://twitter.com/YouActualized/status/1319267616398188544

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