Articles & guides — page 5
212 pieces on the questions people actually search — how many calories, how much protein, how big a deficit, what a set at RIR 2 means, how the 1RM estimate works, how many sets a week — with every number derived from the formulas the apps use or cited to a source you can open. Training and nutrition education only; never medical advice.
212 articles
Should you eat before a workout?
For muscle over 12 weeks, fasted and fed lifters gained alike. Within a session, a meal helped: men did 68 squat reps after breakfast vs 58 without one.
Human trial dataNutrition fundamentals7 minShould you spread your protein throughout the day?
Mixed. One 24-hour study found about a third higher muscle building with even meals; longer trials matching daily protein mostly found no difference in lean mass.
Human trial dataNutrition fundamentals7 minWhat are the most filling foods?
In a test of 38 foods at 240 kcal each, boiled potatoes were rated about 3 times as filling as white bread. Heavy, watery, fibre-rich foods scored highest.
Human trial dataDieting & troubleshooting6 minHow big should a calorie deficit be?
A deficit sized from a weekly rate of body weight, not a round number: the 0.3 / 0.5 / 0.75 percent rates, the 35 percent cap and the floors, worked for 75 kg.
First principlesDieting & troubleshooting4 minIs a 500-calorie deficit right for everyone?
Where the 500 kcal deficit comes from (3,500 kcal per pound), why it fits a 90 kg person and not a 55 kg one, and how a percent-of-body-weight rate scales.
First principlesDieting & troubleshooting8 minHow fast should I lose weight?
Rates of loss as a percent of body weight per week — the 0.3, 0.5 and 0.75 settings, what a faster rate cost in one athlete trial, and picking a rate to hold.
Human trial dataDieting & troubleshooting5 minDoes a calorie deficit have to be daily, or does weekly count?
Weekly counts. Why the week is the planning unit, how a 2,891 kcal weekly deficit can be spent unevenly, and why one high day does not undo a week.
First principlesDieting & troubleshooting5 minWhy has my weight loss stalled?
Four causes of a weight-loss plateau in order of likelihood: expenditure that fell with your weight, logging drift, water hiding the trend, and a stale target.
First principlesDieting & troubleshooting5 minWhy do calorie calculators stop at 1,200 or 1,500 calories?
Calorie floors explained: what the 1,200 and 1,500 kcal limits protect, how the standard and lower settings differ, and what happens when a target hits one.
First principlesDieting & troubleshooting5 minHow to reverse diet after a cut
A reverse diet is a slow gain goal with attentive tracking: what the method claims, the simple version at the conservative rate, and reading the trend line.
First principlesDieting & troubleshooting12 minDo refeeds, diet breaks and carb cycling work?
Refeeds, diet breaks and carb cycling defined, and what 5 randomised trials found: fat loss the same or better than dieting straight through, but not faster.
Human trial dataDieting & troubleshooting7 minHow accurately do you need to track calories?
Two kinds of logging error and why only one matters: a steady bias gets priced in, a half-logged day distorts three weeks of estimates. The honest minimum.
First principlesZyra is a training and nutrition tracking tool. Nothing on this page is medical advice, a diagnosis, or an individual prescription. The numbers are estimates from published formulas and the apps' own rules — consult a qualified professional for decisions about your health, and a coach for your training.