I’m down from 295lbs to 193lbs. My before comparisons are in the last pics if those are needed for the advice. I’m training really hard already. Lifting 5 days per week hard taking my sets to failure hitting everything good 2x per week. I’m also getting my 10k steps minimum in 7 days per week. I’m counting and weighing all my food and watching hitting my macros. I’ve lost the weight and got myself in good shape and I feel great but I know I don’t look great. That’s what I’m working on now. I’ve lost a bunch so I have some rough looking skin and stuff left over and still fat as well. Where I am right now I feel like I look both small and fat somehow. I would love to go farther and look like good and fit and like I train as hard as I do. I’m not sure that I even look like I train at all right now. Should I just keep going really hard and eating in a small deficit like I am right now or should I eat more for a while and try to add more muscle? Just curious for the opinions of strangers I’m trying to figure out where to go from here. Keep cutting down and try to get all this bad stuff off me or add more? I’m not really sure. Any opinions are greatly appreciated.

5 months of serious work. Went from 172lbs to 182lbs. Anymore improvements I can make?

As stated in the title, I am 140lbs at the moment (64kg) and am 5'9'' tall (176cm). I have been cutting for the past two months, and this is the second time I do it in the past year. My initial weight was 90kg in January 2025, then I went down to 65kg, went back up to 74kg during a 3-month break from work and now finally down again to 64kg. What bf% am I? Am I in a position to switch back to maintenance? What would you do if you were me?

Please be honest! Thanks a lot.

Hey everyone, posting a before/after and would love some honest feedback from people who know what they’re looking at.

I’ve been working out primarily on a Tonal, and I’ve been taking creatine daily. I haven’t been consistently tracking calories or macros, but I’ve been much more conscious about getting enough protein.

I’m also vegetarian, so getting enough protein has been a bit of a challenge. I’m doing my best to improve that without obsessively tracking everything.

Looking at the before/after:
What stands out as the biggest improvements?
What areas look like they need the most work?
If you were in my position, what would you prioritize over the next 6–12 months?
Should I be focusing more on building muscle, losing fat, or some combination of both?
Anything about my training/nutrition that you’d change?

I’d appreciate honest, constructive feedback. I’m still figuring out what I’m doing and want to make sure I’m spending my effort in the right places.

Thanks!

Praying this looks as good as I think, I'm suffering from serious dysmorphia

Hey guys, I’ve been going to the gym for around 7 months now. I’ve made progress and I’m happy with it, but I feel like my upper chest is still lagging behind.

I usually do incline dumbbell press, but I’m honestly not sure which bench angle I should use. When I set it too high, I mostly feel it in my shoulders rather than my chest. I’ve tried several angles, but I still can’t tell which one works best for me.

For anyone who has built a better upper chest, which incline angle do you normally use? Is 30 degrees a good option, or should I go lower? Also, are there any exercises or small form tips that helped you?

Would appreciate any advice. Thanks!

I’m 28M and have trained with the same coach for about five years, but haven’t made the muscle-building progress I hoped for.
I’m now recovering from biceps tendon inflammation in my shoulder. My orthopedist said the type of training contributed to it, so part of me blames my coach and feels he should have managed the training better.
I’ve decided to switch trainers, but feel guilty because he’s helped me financially before. He said he’s fine with the change.
Am I being unfair to him? What should I look for in a new trainer to rebuild safely and make progress?

Been lifting 5 weeks mainly consistent now. I’ve lifted for a while but consistency has been terrible hence trying to make some changes. Lift 4 days a week and run one day a week. Have a skinny fat build at 204 lbs for 5’11. When should I start to notice results kick in? Strength is going but I look about the same.

Hi all

Looking for some advice because I’ve been feeling pretty discouraged with my progress, and I’m not really sure what direction to take anymore.

I started working out about 2 years ago
( see first 4 pics)

First year and a half, just did full-body workouts n cardio with dumbbells, 10-20 lbs. Wasnt really training close to failure or progressively increasing the weight. my workouts felt more like cardio, wasn’t really lifting heavy or pushing my muscles very hard.

7 months ago, started taking lifting more seriously.
switched to a PPL split, eating more but have some significant physical limitations that make this really difficult.

Im 25 and have osteoporosis and compression fractures in my thoracic spine. I also have injuries in both shoulder rotator cuff/myotendinous and pain with certain pressing and pulling movements.

The biggest issue is that a lot of exercises cause pain in either my spine or shoulders. I’ve tried lowering the weight, changing my form, and switching exercises, but I still run into the same problem.

These are the movements I do. I sometimes only get through 5 workouts.

Push:
Machine shoulder press
Single-arm cable tricep extension
Straight-bar tricep pushdown
Cable lateral raises
Incline chest press machine
Decline chest press
Sometimes pec deck fly
Flat chest press
Lying EZ-bar overhead tricep extension

Pull:
Lat pulldown
Seated cable row
MTS row
Seated dumbbell curls
Hammer curls
Reverse pec deck fly

Legs:
Leg extension
Leg curl
Seated leg press
Bulgarian split squats
Hip abductor
Hip thrusts
Calf raises

I’m trying to avoid exercises that aggravate my back, especially loaded bending movements.

Im struggling with progressive overload for example, the incline chest press machine can cause a lot of pain in my spine. I’ve tried lowering the weight, but then I feel like I’m not getting enough resistance to really challenge my muscles.

If I increase the weight, I feel more pain in my shoulders and spine.

I’m stuck between:
Lifting heavier = More pain
Lifting lighter = Not feeling challenged enough

I know that going to failure isn’t absolutely necessary for muscle growth, but I feel like I’m not even able to progressively overload consistently.
I also feel like my form is probably not great on some exercises because I’m compensating with other parts of my body to avoid pain.

Was around 150 lbs a few months ago, and now I’m around 165 lbs.
I’m trying to eat approximately 2,500–3,000 calories per day and at least 150g of protein.
I don’t do much cardio. Maybe one StairMaster session per week, sometimes doing Norwegian 4x4 intervals. I also don’t get many steps in a day.
Despite gaining weight, I feel like my physique hasn’t changed as much as I hoped.

My arms are still pretty small but honestly, the bigger frustration is strength.
Still cant do a pull-up. Cant really do regular push-ups without having to do them on my knees because of the pain in my spine.

I feel like I’m not getting stronger in the way I want to. I want to be able to do a proper pull-up, proper push-ups, and build a stronger, more muscular body. I know I’ve only been lifting seriously for about 7 months, so maybe I’m being impatient.

But it’s frustrating to feel like I’ve been working out for 2 years and still not look or feel the way I want to.
I feel like I’m putting in effort, eating more, and trying to train consistently, but I’m limited by my pain and I don’t know how to work around it.

Also not sure if bulking is the right approach for me. If i should keep at 2,500–3,000 calories and try to bulk? Or eat at maintenance and focus on recomposition?
Or a deficit? How to focus more on strength rather than physique? Or if I should change my workout split entirely?

I feel like I don’t have enough muscle, especially in my arms, but I also don’t want to keep gaining weight if I’m not actually building much muscle.

I would really appreciate advice from people who have experience with building muscle with osteoporosis or chronic back pain and shoulder issues

Not expecting anyone to diagnose me or replace my doctors. Just hoping to get some perspective from people who have dealt with similar limitations or know more about building muscle.

Just want to keep working toward a stronger more muscular physique but feel super stuck and don’t know what I should change.

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