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What changed, and when. Every answer carries a review date; this is that data, sorted.

87 pages tracked Oldest review 24 Aug 2026 RSS

1 October 2026 3

Can you lose fat from one area? Barely: training a muscle does not meaningfully slim the fat over it, and the trials that found any local effect found a small one. Answer Why did I gain weight overnight? Water and food, not fat: a kilo of fat holds about 7,700 kcal, so a jump of one or two kilos in a day cannot be fat you have eaten. Answer Why has my weight loss stopped? Usually intake has crept up, and your maintenance drops as you get lighter; water can also hide real fat loss for weeks. Answer

17 September 2026 50

BMI Calculator Your body mass index, its WHO category, and the healthy weight range for your height. Calculator Body Fat Calculator Estimate body fat percentage with a tape measure, using the US Navy circumference method. Calculator Body recomposition Losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time, usually eating at or slightly below maintenance with plenty of protein. Term Can you build muscle in a calorie deficit? Yes, but slowly: it works best if you are new to lifting, returning after a break or carrying extra fat, and gets harder the leaner and more trained you are. Answer Compound exercise A movement that works several joints and muscle groups at once, such as a squat, deadlift, bench press or row. Term Creatine vs beta-alanine Creatine, unless your event is an all-out effort lasting one to four minutes, where beta-alanine is the better buy. Comparison Cutting vs body recomposition Cut if you have a fair amount of fat to lose or want results sooner; recomp works best if you are new to lifting or returning after a break. Comparison Deload A planned lighter week, with less volume or load, to clear accumulated fatigue before training hard again. Term Do I need to load creatine? No: 3–5 g a day saturates your muscles in three to four weeks, and loading only gets you to the same place in one. Answer Do ice baths help recovery? They ease soreness a little, but after lifting they can blunt muscle and strength gains, so save them for busy competition periods. Answer Does caffeine improve performance? Yes: 3–6 mg/kg about an hour before training reliably improves endurance, with smaller gains in strength and power. Answer Does cardio kill gains? Not at typical volumes: in controlled trials, adding cardio did not reduce muscle growth or maximal strength, but it can blunt explosive power. Answer Does eating late make you fat? Not by itself: total daily calories decide it, and late eating mainly matters if it leads you to eat more. Answer Does stretching prevent injury? Not overall: static stretching has no clear effect on injury rates, and long holds just before training briefly cost a little strength and power. Answer FFMI Calculator Your fat-free mass index, normalised for height, the measure behind the often quoted ceiling of about 25 for drug-free men. Calculator Finish Time Calculator Turn a pace into a finish time at 5K, 10K, half or full marathon, or a goal time into the pace you need. Calculator Free weights vs machines Near enough the same for muscle and strength, so pick on what you will do consistently and what your gym actually has. Comparison Full body vs split routine Either works: with the same weekly sets per muscle, full body and split routines build similar muscle and strength. Comparison Heart Rate Zone Calculator Your five training zones in beats per minute, from your age or a measured max heart rate, sharper if you add your resting rate. Calculator How close to failure should I train? Stop most sets 1–3 reps short of failure; going all the way adds fatigue for little or no extra growth. Answer How fast can I lose fat? 0.5–1% of bodyweight per week; faster than that and you start paying for it in muscle and performance. Answer How fast should my easy runs be? Slow enough to hold a full conversation, usually 45–90 seconds per kilometre slower than your 10K pace. Answer How long should I rest between sets? 2–3 minutes between hard sets of compound lifts, 1–2 minutes for isolation work. Answer How long until I see results? Strength within a few weeks, measurable muscle growth within a couple of months, and a change other people notice usually after several months. Answer How many calories should I eat to lose weight? About 20% below your maintenance, which for most people is 400–600 kcal per day. Answer How many steps a day should I walk? 7,000–10,000 steps captures nearly all of the health benefit; beyond that the curve flattens. Answer How much protein per meal? About 0.4 g/kg per meal across four meals, which is roughly 30–50 g for most people. Answer How much protein should I eat? Eat 1.6–2.2 g of protein per kg of bodyweight per day; more has shown no extra benefit for muscle. Answer How much sleep do I need to recover? 7–9 hours for most adults; sleeping less than you need measurably hurts training performance and recovery. Answer How often should I change my program? When progress stalls or your goal changes; there is no need to switch on a fixed schedule. Answer Is soreness a sign of a good workout? No: soreness tracks novelty and ((eccentric|eccentric)) loading, not growth. Answer Isolation exercise A movement that works one joint and mainly one muscle, such as a biceps curl, leg extension or lateral raise. Term Plate Calculator Which plates to put on each side of the bar to reach a total weight, in kg or lb. Calculator Protein Calculator How much protein to eat per day and per meal for your bodyweight, from the range where the benefit for muscle levels off. Calculator Race Time Predictor Predict your time at another distance from a race you have already run, by two methods side by side. Calculator Should I bulk or cut first? Cut first if you are above roughly 20% body fat (men) or 30% (women); otherwise start building. Answer Strides Short, relaxed accelerations of 15 to 30 seconds at a quick but not flat-out pace, with full recovery, added to the end of an easy run. Term Superset Two exercises done back to back with the rest taken only after the second, usually pairing opposing muscles such as a press and a row. Term Taper Cutting training volume over the last one to three weeks before a race while keeping the intensity, so you start rested but sharp. Term Threshold pace The fastest pace you could hold for about an hour in a race, used as the effort for comfortably hard training runs. Term Treadmill Pace Converter Convert treadmill speed to pace per km or mile, and see the outdoor pace that takes the same effort at your incline. Calculator VO₂max Calculator Estimate VO₂max from a 12-minute test, your resting heart rate, or a recent race, and get your heart rate zones with it. Calculator Weight Loss Calculator How many weeks it takes to reach a goal weight at a given intake, with your maintenance recalculated as you get lighter. Calculator What is a deload? A short, easier training period, usually a week with fewer sets or lighter loads, used to shed fatigue before training hard again. Answer What is a good deadlift? Roughly 2× bodyweight is intermediate for men and 1.25× for women; advanced is about 2.75× for men and 2× for women. Answer What is a good overhead press? Roughly 0.7× bodyweight is intermediate for men and 0.5× for women; advanced is about 1× for men and 0.75× for women. Answer What is a good squat? Roughly 1.5× bodyweight is intermediate for men and 1.25× for women; advanced is about 2.25× for men and 1.75× for women. Answer What is a good VO₂max? It depends on age and sex: in a large US lab registry the median is 48 ml/kg/min for men and 38 for women in their twenties, falling to about 33 and 23 in their fifties. Answer What is progressive overload? Doing more over time, with more weight, reps or sets, so your muscles keep getting a reason to adapt. Answer Whey vs plant protein Whey, by a small margin: in trials soy protein matched dairy protein for muscle gain, while other plant proteins did slightly worse. Comparison

24 August 2026 34

1RM Calculator Estimate your one-rep max from any set of 1–12 reps, and get the working loads that follow from it. Calculator AMRAP As many reps as possible: a set taken to the point where another rep would fail. Term BMR Basal metabolic rate: the calories you would burn lying still all day. Term Concentric The lifting half of a rep, where the muscle shortens under load. Term Do I need to lift heavy to build muscle? No: anything from roughly 5 to 30 reps builds similar muscle, provided you take the set close to failure. Answer Does creatine cause hair loss? No: the whole claim traces to one 2009 study of 20 rugby players that measured DHT, not hair, and it has never been replicated. Answer Does creatine work? Yes: creatine monohydrate reliably adds a few percent to strength and 1–2 kg of bodyweight, and it is the most replicated supplement in sport. Answer DOMS Delayed onset muscle soreness: the ache that peaks one to two days after unfamiliar training. Term Eccentric The lowering half of a lift, where the muscle lengthens under load. Term Energy deficit Eating fewer calories than you burn, which is the only way fat loss happens. Term How do I calculate my 1RM? Take a set of 3–8 reps to near failure and run it through a rep-max formula, because accuracy falls off past about 10 reps. Answer How many sets per muscle per week? 10–20 hard sets per muscle per week covers most of the available growth for most lifters. Answer How much creatine should I take? 3–5 g of creatine monohydrate every day, at any time you like. Answer How much water should I drink? Drink to thirst, plus around 500 ml per hour of hard training; pale-yellow urine is the practical check. Answer How often should I squat? Twice a week for most lifters: enough to practise the pattern and accumulate volume, spread far enough apart that both sessions stay hard. Answer Hypertrophy Growth in the size of muscle fibres, which is what people mean by building muscle. Term Is the anabolic window real? Not in any practical sense: total daily protein matters far more than eating within 30 minutes of training. Answer Lean body mass Everything you weigh that is not fat: muscle, bone, organs and water. Term Leucine The amino acid that triggers muscle protein synthesis, which is why protein quality is judged by it. Term Macro Calculator Split a calorie target into protein, fat and carbs, per day and per meal. Calculator MET One MET is the energy you burn sitting still, so a 10 MET effort costs ten times that. Term One-rep max The heaviest weight you can lift once with acceptable technique, written 1RM. Term Phosphocreatine The muscle’s fastest energy store, good for roughly ten seconds of maximal effort. Term RIR Reps in reserve: how many more reps you could have done before failing. Term RPE Rate of perceived exertion, scored 1 to 10, where 8 means you had two reps left. Term Running Pace Calculator Convert a distance and time into pace per km and per mile, with equivalent times at every race distance. Calculator Strength Standards See where your bench, squat, deadlift or press sits relative to your bodyweight, from beginner to elite. Calculator TDEE Total daily energy expenditure: everything you burn in a day, resting and moving combined. Term TDEE Calculator Estimate the calories you burn per day, and the intake that follows for cutting, maintaining or gaining. Calculator Training volume How much work you do, usually counted as hard sets per muscle per week. Term VDOT A single number that summarises running fitness, derived from a race result rather than a lab test. Term VO₂max The most oxygen your body can use per minute, the ceiling on your endurance. Term What heart rate is Zone 2? Roughly 60–70% of your maximum heart rate, the pace at which you can still hold a full conversation. Answer What is a good bench press? Roughly 1.0× bodyweight is intermediate for men and 0.75× for women; advanced is about 1.5× for men and 1.0× for women. Answer