u/AssiduousLayabout

I constantly see beginners posting about strength training routines that seem more appropriate for people a few years into their strength training journey.

A beginner doesn't need, and won't even see benefits from, 4-6 day splits like ULUL / PPLUL / PPLPPL / etc. In your first 6-12 months, you will get an insane amount of muscle stimulus even from just 1-2 basic sessions per week, it does not take much for you to effectively max out your muscle stimulus. At the same time, as a beginner, your recovery capability is extremely low, so you need a lot more recovery days. And recovery days are not just for your muscles, but also your tendons or joints to recover and adapt and strengthen. Don't screw around with tendon health - it can take months up to a full year for tendon injuries to heal.

Just start out with 1-2 days a week of full-body work. (In general, if you're under 40, you can probably start at 2x per week, and if you're over 40, you'll probably do better starting at 1x). As your recovery improves, you can move up to 3x per week.

A beginner also doesn't need to do a huge variety of exercises to isolate and target every muscle in every possible way. Again, this is more something for you to worry about in year 2 or year 3. Beginners will get a strong growth stimulus again from almost anything.

You're much better learning 6-10 movements, mostly compound, and work on doing those well. Just make sure to hit each basic movement pattern weekly (ideally twice per week): Horizontal push, vertical push, horizontal pull, vertical pull, squat, hip hinge. If you're doing 3 days per week, this means you can do 4 different exercises per session and hit each movement twice. And that's great.

You can always build up later and add more later, after you get the basics down. Don't be too quick to go down the road of giving yourself extra fatigue, extra wear and tear on your tendons and joints, for nearly zero additional gain.

Most of the content you see from fitness influencers isn't for you, it's for people in the 2-5 years of experience range. It can be interesting to think about for the future, but it's not something you should be focused on right now. Build the fundamentals first.

So I've had a very successful Zepbound journey so far. I'm down from 318 to 256, already a 20% body weight loss and just about to move to 7.5 so I expect there is still significant room for further loss.

So that got me thinking about the other things I've done apart from Zepbound that has synergistic effects. For me, I think my "force multipliers" are:

• I joined a gym and do structured strength training, full-body 3x per week. Not only have I lost weight, per BIA I've actually gained muscle as well.
• Getting enough dietary fiber and protein. I definitely think this has helped me get to week 36 still on 5 mg.
• Treating my sleep apnea and really focusing on consistent and better sleep.

My experience is that all of these really work together. I don't have bloodwork to confirm, but I'm pretty certain my testosterone levels are considerably higher than before, from a combination of the weight loss, the added strength training, and the better-quality sleep. Increased testosterone, more protein, and better sleep help build muscle, and the muscle helps improve insulin sensitivity which makes the weight loss easier.

What are the various things you've found that multiply the effects of the medication?

So I have been pretty inconsistent with doing calf raises but I'd like to improve on that. My problem is that even if I do things at an intensity where my DOMS is minor (like a 1-2 soreness) I tend to get cramps in my calves late at night. Yesterday, because I wanted to ease myself into it, I did just a single set of 15, not taken that close to failure (it was burning but I could have done at least 5 more). Soreness today is not that bad but I woke up in the middle of the night with a painful charley horse in my leg.

I don't tend to get cramps anywhere else, but my calves do. Is this something that will improve with consistency like DOMS does? I know about making sure I have potassium and hydration, but are there other tips that can help reduce cramping?