i guess because of my irregular sleeping pattern because of poker im probably intermittent fasting with even trying? i have put on about 10-14lbs of lean muscle since xmas in my estimation from doing a upper/lower body split i think this is a good alternative to ss and 5x5 purely for more variation of exercises but what bother me is my bone density is still pretty small which is what i hoped id increase to stop getting injured all the time through sports but i think progress has been slow in that area and only recently ive been able to go heavy with lower body exercises due to a previous injury (tore tendons in my foot) whats best to really help this or is it more diet specific?

What's your basis for saying your bone density is still pretty small.

like my calves are alright its just the bone below seems so small same goes for my forearm an wrist like any trauma to them i feel like they could break easily or really have a nasty bang on them that restricts my involvement in sport an thats the main reason i started training was my small frame and how easy id get injured via impact sports and obvious girls

You aren't going to be able to tell a difference in bone size. Your frame is determined almost wholly by genetics. You have what you have. Bone density can be increased through weight training but you aren't going to feel your humerus getting swole.

Density = Mass/Volume. It's not the case that your bone density goes up means your wrists or ankles would get bigger (in fact if they did and the mass stayed he same they'd be less dense). They will get heavier though which isn't reallly perceptible and requires a DEXA scan or some such to measure

im only 23 and i dont think ive had my filling out phase yet tho but should i switch my program over to 5x5 for maybe 8-12 weeks to really grow my legs?

Newbie looking for advice:
Looking over the last two pages I see a couple workout plans mentioned, SS and 5x5? Know nothing about them. Don't really have a workout plan. Don't like busy gyms, and don't have anyone to lift with. Used to do some regular lifting with friends where the focus would be either chest, legs, shoulders/triceps, or back/biceps on a given day, total 4 days/week. It was engaging, but now by myself I don't really know what to do, kind of just do whatever equipment is easy and open and run a couple miles on the treadmill.

Any recommendations for becoming stronger and avoiding injury when playing sports, maybe one of these plans so I could have something to follow? Again I just hate going to the gym when it's busy and it's always busy, unless it's like 9pm and by then I can easily convince myself not to go and I also don't like staying up too late. Conflicted, I need some motivation, and I think an easy to follow plan might be helpful as a guide to get going. I don't want to have to spend over an hour in the gym on any given visit and I'm in no rush, so I can start slow. It'd just be nice to have some consistency and not have huge gaps where it feels like I may have lost any progress that was made.

Any ideas or leads? Feel like there's probably a lot of good info in this thread, but it's also a lot to wade through and I just started checking it out. Trying to read anything good that catches my eye. Help is definitely appreciated!

Greg,

Thank you for such a helpful and informative reply. I had brought my bf probiotics as he has had some problems with digestion and he was really pleased with how much better he was feeling after taking them so I was considering taking them myself even though I don't have any issues in this area. They had Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria in them. I think I will get some for myself and see how they go

Hey, beginner as well kinda and hoping you get something useful out of this post. The amount of information (good or bad) over fitness available on the internet is definitely something i find overwhelming as well as a beginner.

Check reddit fitness programs maybe ?https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/wiki/programs

Do SS.

^this, or GSLP.

AMRAP for people with who're developing form iis generally a recipe for disaster.

That is my main issue with GSLP. Moving into something like that after 2-3 months seems fine tho. Or whenever technical competence is achieved.

Yeah SS seems close to optimal for the first 2-3 months of lifting. Then GSLP. My only problem with GSLP is the open-ended nature of it means that people waste a lot of time discovering that it's not enough work to make progress anymore.

Agree

The power clean is useless though

no u

There are some more nuanced changes that can be made to vary the pulling programming. I personally don't think the average person is gonna manage to figure out a power clean in any reasonable time and can spend their efforts during warmups to master it. Or not.

I changed one of my weekend runs to intervals and saw big gains in how much energy I have playing basketball.

Oh FFS. That is a trope.

How about lung capacity?

So you changed one routine that used a slightly different energy system and engaged the CNS differently to one that more closely resembles how basketball is played and it improved how you perform in basketball.

That is like someone asking why their 1RM doesn't go up much when all they ever do is sets of 12 and you tell them to start doing 3-5 rep sets and miraculous their 1RM went up much faster and then they ask you "does doing 3-5 reps increase your 1RM more than 12 rep sets?"

Why doesn't ethanol ever get listed when somebody posts their macros?

Any performance issues arising from a gain strategy of eating to TDEE + drinking three pints?

Umm... weight gain on the caloric surplus? Depends on size/etc. Three pints may or may not be a lot or a little. But if you're a big dude, it won't be enough to make a large difference.


See Martin's seminal piece on how to eat when you want to drink. His advice echoes what I've heard from AA.

Three pints is more or less an arbitrary number. I just picked something that would put a me-sized person (165 lbs) at reasonable surplus for the day without causing a hangover.It seems like what I'm proposing wouldn't hinder performance, especially in something with a low skill requirement like strength development*.

Yet nobody even includes ethanol consumption in their macros. They can't all be teetotalers.

I don't really know what piece you're referring to. Cursory google search yielded no results. Is Martin from 2p2 or the wider world?

*I mean in comparison to a "dry" 400-600 kcal surplus diet.

Would also like to read that piece about eating + drinking. Being a bear lover in belgium with decent amount of social activities isn't ideal