Natural here. I’ve been training roughly 2 years and I never used to sweat excessively during a light workout until a year after I got into bodybuilding. I call them meat sweats because I’m packing a lot more muscle than I was when I started lol. But this sweat problem is brutal - never thought I’d be happy for winter.

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I competed on June 13th so this is almost 3 months after my last show. I have no competition planned this year nor do I know if I will be competing next year.
My stats are:
186cm
I don’t know the weight exactly but my guess around 90-92kg
28 years old
Vegan since 2018
Training since 12-13 years old

I've come across two videos by the same creator that I follow for tips on technique about how to properly do rear delt flies with dumbbells:

1) standing https://vm.tiktok.com/ZN8Fa6MBk/

2) sitting https://vm.tiktok.com/ZN8Fafu95/

The dumbbells are held differently which makes me wonder why and whether this means different muscles are targeted. Or are there any other difference I should be aware of when deciding between the two?

Welcome to the r/naturalbodybuilding Daily Discussion Thread. All are welcome to post here but please keep in mind that this sub is intended for intermediate to advanced level lifters so beginner level questions may not get answered.

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Thread for getting the word out about your amazingly awesome instagram or youtube page that everyone should follow, etc.

Hey guys,
Looking for a quick sanity check on running aggressive mini-cuts timed around my monthly exam schedule.
I'm 22M, 170cm, 89kg, around 23% body fat. My maintenance is roughly 2700 kcal. I lift 4 days a week for hypertrophy, trying to get daily steps in, and play tennis or padel once or twice a week.
The plan is to run a repeating 4-week loop:
Weeks 1 and 2 (Mini-Cut): Drop to 1500-1700 kcal/day (1000-1200 deficit). This starts right after an exam block when my schedule and stress levels are light.
Weeks 3 and 4 (Maintenance): Back to 2700 kcal. This lines up with heavy study prep and test week so I can study without brain fog, poor sleep, or diet fatigue.
Protein stays at ~165g daily across both phases, and I take 5g creatine daily.
A few questions on how the body handles this:

1. From a health and metabolic standpoint, is swinging back and forth between a huge deficit and maintenance every 2 weeks safe, or does it mess with your gut, energy levels, and hormonal baseline?
   
2. Does the body even have time to downregulate metabolism in just 14 days, or does the 2-week maintenance reset everything effectively?
   
3. At ~ 23% body fat, is muscle retention going to be fine with this deficit size, or is it unnecessarily aggressive even for a 2-week sprint?
   Would appreciate thoughts from anyone who understands the physiology or has run 2-on/2-off cycles like this.

Welcome to the r/naturalbodybuilding Daily Discussion Thread. All are welcome to post here but please keep in mind that this sub is intended for intermediate to advanced level lifters so beginner level questions may not get answered.

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So I saw a video of some dude curling the 65s with not the best form (on the egolifting sub but still). People were so adamant that he was gonna tear a bicep or injure himself somehow. In my session today I did the 70s with pretty minimal swinging and fairly controlled eccentrics for ~5 reps (wasn’t focusing on counting tbh). I’ve progressed to this weight slowly and I gotta admit it’s one of my favorite things to do in the gym, so is it really that bad in my case?

Basic Stats

​Age / Sex: 21M

​Height: 5'5" (165 cm)

​Current Weight: 75 kg

​Primary Focus: Powerlifting / Strength n max muscle gains during off season

​Diet & Macro Breakdown

​Total Daily Calories: 2,541 kcal

​Macros: 211g Protein | 262g Carbs | 68.4g Fat

​Fibre Intake: ~28g total (Includes 10g Isabgol + 10g Fibre supplement + diet)

​Everyday Meal Plan

​Breakfast (913 Cal): 6 Large whole eggs, 250g rice, 300g onion-tomato gravy with milk, 80g curd

​Morning Snack (738 Cal): 100g white rice, 300ml toned milk, 7 tsp sugar, 1 scoop Whey Isolate (Wellbeing Nutrition)

​Lunch (288 Cal): 1.5 scoops Ronnie Coleman Pro Antium Protein

​Dinner (603 Cal): 300g raw chicken breast, 250g rice

​Supplements & Gut Support

​Gut Health & Digestion: 10g Psyllium Husk (Isabgol), 10g Fibre Supplement, 10g L-Glutamine

​Protein Supplements: Wellbeing Nutrition Whey Isolate, Ronnie Coleman Pro Antium

​Dietary Restrictions: Non-Vegetarian

​Workout Split & Activity

​Training Split: Powerlifting (SBD main lifts + hypertrophy accessory work)

​Cardio / Activity: Gym sessions + daily walking / active recovery

​Personal Insights & Community Critique

​Currently running 2,541 kcal with ~211g protein at 75kg / 5'5" to maintain heavy powerlifting intensity while keeping body composition tight.

​Supplementing with Isabgol, Glutamine, and dedicated fibre to ensure smooth digestion on high daily protein.

​Looking for community feedback on overall physique balance, weak-point accessories for SBD carryover, and macro tweaks.

For context first: 28, seven years of training, natural, currently eating a small surplus. I compete occasionally in the WNBF — one class win and an overall runner-up.

Somewhere around years three and four my shoulders just stopped. I kept nudging the weight up and they kept looking exactly the same. What eventually moved them wasn't a new exercise or a new split. It was going back to the same three machines and admitting I'd been cheating all of them.

The three haven't changed in years: machine shoulder press, seated lateral raise machine, reverse pec deck.

On the lateral raise machine I now go above shoulder height on every single rep, no body english, and I keep my arms as straight as I can tolerate. The cue in my head is that my palms should travel as far away from my body as possible through the whole arc. Doing it that way cut my working weight by more than half.

Reverse pec deck is the same idea — straightish arms, hands wide, and I take them past the shoulder line instead of stopping level with it. I went from around 200 lbs down to about 155.

Shoulder press was a different fix. I used to stop just short of lockout. Now I keep sending the whole arm out and let the shoulders close in at the top, instead of stopping the moment my elbows are nearly straight.

Six months in I could see it in the mirror before I could measure it. When I did measure it came out to about half a centimetre on shoulder width. Small enough that you're welcome to call it measurement noise — except it was half a centimetre after two years of nothing, and the visual change showed up first.

Rear delt machine, around the time I made the switch. Also roughly the arm position I'm describing.

Same shoulders about two years later.

Fair warning on those two — it's not a proper side by side. Different angle, different lighting, one's in a tank top and one isn't. It's just what I happen to have. And two years is two years; I changed other things in that window too. This is the one I'd point at, not the only variable that moved.

The cost is mostly ego. The weight drops a lot and you have to be okay with looking weaker than you were. Some machines also fight the straight-arm position — the cam doesn't like it and you feel it in the elbow instead of the delt. On those I bend a little and stop pretending.

I'm not claiming this beats everything. There's a reasonable argument going around for lengthened partials on side delts specifically and I've never tested it properly. One guy, year five, one stall broken.

Most recent show, for whatever it's worth as a reference point on where this physique starts.

Anyone else had a plateau break by taking weight off and fixing the range, rather than adding something?

Welcome to the r/naturalbodybuilding Daily Discussion Thread. All are welcome to post here but please keep in mind that this sub is intended for intermediate to advanced level lifters so beginner level questions may not get answered.

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Been posting a lot in this recently lol.
This is today, final day (day 2) of carb depletion. Feeling like a dead man walking. But any critics on my routine? 5’4 122.3lbs this morning. Self-coached from start to finish. Extremely happy with how everything has went so far. Just gotta nail this carb up!

Welcome to the r/naturalbodybuilding Daily Discussion Thread. All are welcome to post here but please keep in mind that this sub is intended for intermediate to advanced level lifters so beginner level questions may not get answered.

In order to minimize repetitive questions/topics please use the search function prior to posting to see if it has already been discussed or answered. Since the reddit search function isn't that good you can also use Google to search r/naturalbodybuilding by using the string "site:reddit.com/r/naturalbodybuildling" after your search topic.

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Welcome to the r/naturalbodybuilding Daily Discussion Thread. All are welcome to post here but please keep in mind that this sub is intended for intermediate to advanced level lifters so beginner level questions may not get answered.

In order to minimize repetitive questions/topics please use the search function prior to posting to see if it has already been discussed or answered. Since the reddit search function isn't that good you can also use Google to search r/naturalbodybuilding by using the string "site:reddit.com/r/naturalbodybuildling" after your search topic.

Please include relevant details in your question like training age, weight etc...