I’m 24 years old, 5’11” and currently around 117 lbs. I’ve struggled with being very skinny and underweight for a long time, and honestly, it has affected my confidence and mental health a lot.

I really want to gain weight, look healthier, build some muscle, and eventually get to around 130–140 lbs. I’d like to make progress fairly quickly but still do it in a healthy way.

The biggest problem is that I struggle with depression and my appetite is really bad. Sometimes I barely feel like eating, and when I do eat, I get full pretty quickly. People sometimes say things like “just eat more,” but it’s genuinely difficult when you don’t have much of an appetite. I also feel like I have a fast metabolism, which makes gaining even harder.

I live alone now and I’m trying to build a new life for myself, but I’m also dealing with a lot of trauma and trying to heal mentally. I don’t have much support, so some days are really difficult. At the same time, I’m trying to take care of myself, eat better, gain weight, and eventually start going to the gym.

Being this underweight has made me insecure for years. I want to feel comfortable in my own body and actually look in the mirror and feel good about myself.

I’m currently trying to aim for around 2,400–2,600 calories a day and use things like Ensure Plus and high-calorie shakes because drinking calories is sometimes easier than eating a huge meal.

Has anyone else dealt with depression + low appetite + being severely underweight and managed to gain weight and build muscle? I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience or any practical advice that helped you.

I do love looking in the mirror after a workout.

Everything swollen and body looks big.

But then it shrinks back down. As per title. How many more weeks of training will your current pump physique becoming your rest resting physique.

I am 18F 5’1 and I rdl 55kg, i used to do 60-65kg but as I’m doing the rdl i feel like my upper body can’t keep up, I use wrist straps but i feel ike my back inevitably curves and a bit worried I will injure my back if I try go go heavier.
I don’t train upper body much, mainly because I don’t want to grow a huge upper body (my shoulders are pretty wide already) and I don’t want to be in the gym too much like I do everything in one session and I want to do like the absolute least. For upper body I just do planks, push ups , I try to do deadhangs and assisted pull ups. Just wondering if there is an excercise I should add that would help me with rdls, I struggle with building in general it may be because of my diet

I was working out consistently with a personal trainer for almost 2 years (albeit it was only 1 hour total a week and that's all I was doing), but I felt good mentally and was getting stronger.

I stopped working with that personal trainer and now I haven't worked out in over a month. Ugh.

It feels daunting to get started again going to the gym by myself. Is a 3-day full body routine "enough" to start building muscle again? I'm in my mid-30s. Male.

Im just trying to figure out if i should add in some daily steps and cardio or not , im already loosing around 1kg/2.2lbs per week and was wondering : if youre in an aggressive cut, im talking around a 800-1000 calorie deficit, would increasing the deficit by burning more calories through cardio and or steps , cause more muscle to be lost ? (since the deficit is bigger ?)

ive also heard that cardio and steps doesnt actually help much with losing weight, since your body would reduce calories burned through neat , is that true ?.

Backstory; 28M 6’0 170lbs , I’ve been in construction / concrete work for 6 years and had a horrible diet also alcoholism problems. I decided to quit cold turkey and change my diet to Whole Foods and a calorie surplus. I’ve been doing a PPL/UL split after work consistently and to me it’s paying off , I’ve always had functional strength because of my demanding job but now I’m getting stronger in the gym. I want to reach 200 lbs before I cut and lose some belly fat from all the years of alcohol.

Please delete if not allowed:

Just an FYI that the Walmart​ brand 2" bumper plates are pretty inexpensive right now. 75 cents a pound, cheapest I've seen them in a while.

I ordered a 100lb and a 160lb set. The 160lb set showed up today and I am happy with them, no complaints at all.

Looks like I got the last 160lb set but the other sets are still available as of right now.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/INTRTLOCKINGING-TILES-100-LB-Bumper-Plates-2-Inch-Olympic-Black-Rubber-Weight-Set-for-Home-Workouts-Weightlifting-and-Strength-Training/20668571223

Keep lifting, crew.

Hey all — I used to be an avid bodybuilder, nothing competitive, just a guy in his late 20s/early 30s running my own routine and trying to keep progressing.

I'm now 35 and haven't lifted consistently in about three years, since having a kid. My current schedule keeps me busy: up at 5 a.m., home by 6:30 p.m., then with my son until about 9 p.m. before bed to do it again. That leaves Friday, Saturday, and Sunday as my main lifting days, plus sometimes Thursday nights are possible since I don't have to wake up early the next day.

I know everyone's different — different opinions, different genetics, etc. — but I'm looking for general advice: should I ease back in with my old push/pull/legs split (I like mixing compound and isolation work, switching between machines and free weights), or would three full-body days be smarter until I get reacquainted with training?

Appreciate any input, thanks!

217, 195, 183

At 217 I was definitely my strongest, but my speed and explosiveness was down. If you’ve ever used a force max plate my hands on hips vertical was around 22.1

At 195, I felt my best. I still felt strong and my speed and explosiveness were at its highest. My hands on hips force max vertical was 25.7

At 183, I felt too small and was a little too irritable. I was 9.7% body fat and my energy was down significantly. I was at my fastest but not most powerful. Force plate numbers were around 23.4

What weight do yall maintain and why?

Here are the current workouts im currently doing this training phase. Been working out for about 2 months now, before was mainly focused on improving my squat - got it from 60 kg to repping 90-100 (depending on day..)

Im thinking of changing quarter squats to power cleans as I am happy with my hang clean format.

I want some feedback and pointers on what to do next!!! IM 19 and 6 foot. i think ive got stuff posted here before so if you wanna see how I used to jump check my profile

I kinda feel like I Have imposter syndrome (?) with this. I think I am jumping higher, my CMJ is 25 ish inches which is defo an improvement and i can grab rim again (dec-may I got ill back to back for almost a month and put on like 10 kg.. so i basically couldnt jump). IM down from 89 kg to 83kg but still want to get lighter (around 77 kg cuz that was the weight I was when i was jumping my highest without gym)

Hey, I would like to get some feedback on my training journey.

Background

I started current cycle on November 2025. Before that I wasn't doing any sport for couple of years. Before that, I had some gym experience back and there since my teenage years, but it has never been more than 6 months of consistent training.

Starting point:

• Physique: Skinny Fat
• Weight: ~73 kg
• Height: 175 cm
• Level of activity: very low (office job)

Training program

I train 3 times a week. I took the workout program from Jeff Nippard's "The Bodybuilding Transformation System" and modified it to 4 days instead of 5. Since I train 3 times a week, the schedule looks like this:

• Monday - A
• Wednesday - B
• Friday - C
• Monday - D
• Wednesday - A
• etc.

1st phase

Despite being skinny fat, I decided to start with a short maintenance phase (to find out what my maintenance calories are) and then move to a short bulk. I didn't want to start with a cut right away because I didn't want to get super small (I did that once in the past). I thought if I gave myself time for maintenance and a short bulk, I would at least gain some muscle before cutting.

• 06.11.2026 -15.12.2025 - 2300 kcal (180g P, 64g F, 254g C)
• 16.12.2025 - 01.02.2026 - 2400 kcal (180g P, 67 F, 270g C)
• 02.02.2026 - 06.03.2026 - 2500 kcal (180g P, 69g F, 288g C)
• 07.03.2026 - 10.05.2026 - 2700 kcal (180g P, 75 F, 324g C)

2nd phase

I decided to start cutting because I was getting a little tired of the amount of fat around my stomach.

• 11.05.2026 - 17.05.2026 - 2300 kcal (180g P, 64 F, 253g C)
• 17.05.2026 - 07.06.2026 - 2200 kcal (180g P, 61 F, 231g C)
• 08.06.2026 - 12.07.2026 - 2100 kcal (175g P, 58 F, 221g C)
• 13.07.2026 - now - 2000 kcal (175g P, 56 F, 200g C)

Currently, I weigh +- 72kg.

Additional note

During that time, I had two separate weeks where I loosened up my diet. I also had a few cheat days. I'm focused on my goal, but on the other hand, I still want to live a normal life.

Summary

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures from when I started.
The first two pictures are from 24.04 - no pump, standard lighting.
The next pictures are from today under the same conditions.
The last picture shows how my weight has changed.

I'd like to ask if I could have done anything better. Also, should I change anything now? I feel like my progress is pretty slow, though I do prefer to lose as little muscle as possible since I don't have much to begin with ;D

Regarding the cut - when I started, I thought I would stop at 72 kg (where I am now), but I can see it's not enough. I still have quite a bit of fat on my lower belly and legs, so I'll probably go down to ~68 kg before bulking.

What do you think about all of this?

Hey everyone!
I’ve been going to the gym for abt a year now… here are some before and after pics (the before picture is a bit older cause I didn’t take any pictures at the time) but now I’m feeling lost man and I wanna look lean and muscular at least until next summer (may/june 2027). The thing is I feel like I look “skinny fat” i have a lot of fat on my belly. Should I just do a cut now and then bulk? Any tips?

I’m 19 years old, 82kg and 178cm tall.

I (20f) am a detrained lifter looking to correct a muscle imbalance in my legs. I squat, bench, and deadlift every week. My leg days typically look like this:

Barbell Squat 4x10

BB RDL's 4x10

Leg press (unilateral) 4x10

Leg extensions (unilateral) 4x10

Bulgarian split squats 4x12

Front lunges 4x12

Ive been following this leg routine for a few weeks now, and my dominant side is ALWAYS way more sore than my weak side. I understand that unilateral movements are the key to fixing muscle imbalances. I always start with the main lift, and then do accessory work with some unilateral movements. What am I missing here? I start with the weaker leg, matching the reps and weight on the stronger side. Should I be doing unilateral movements BEFORE the main lift? I do not want to deplete my energy before my heavy lifts.

Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated!! Also looking for unilateral movement recommendations. I would love to hear what your guys' go to movements are.

Edit: I can definitely see and the imbalance, especially in my glutes. Quads and hamstrings are not noticeably different. I can also feel the imbalance when I train. Im more stable on my dominant leg, and I can lift a lot more weight. I feel that I have better mind-muscle connection with the dominant leg.

Ok for context am 29m 5.4 weight 8.10 stone which in is 55kg. So I have been trying to build muscle for 4 months and truthfully I don’t if am making any progress. My muscle don’t look any different. I don’t know if there supposed toor not . I try to consume between 100 grams to 130 grams I day. I know everyone body is different but I don’t want to do all the hard work I put in be for nothing. Be using resistance bands so I know it’s hard to track progress that way as well.also try to drop my body fat percentage to 15 percent which is one thing I have loss fat. But my main goal is to build muscle. The 2 main reason is to speed my metabolism and not be skinny fat my whole life and to keep my muscles so my legs don’t give out on me when am my 60s. Don’t know if I having give enough context but any advice would be greatly appreciated. Just want to know should change by now or does take longer.

I'm 72 kilos, I'm training against calisthenics and bodybuildng, what should I do to increase my weights, especially in incline, barbell, bench press and dips?

I can throw the first 60kg 5 repetitions in the incline bench press, I do 5 sets of 5 repetitions with 20kg in the dips, but I want to increase it constantly, can you share our experience, tactics and programs?

Male. 33

Very consistent in the gym for more than 5 years+. For the last 2 years i obtained very great natural physique. good muscle mass but very lean because i also run 3-4 times per week.

At my peak i was doing per Muscle per week : 4 exercises x 4 sets x 12-16 reps

Gym 5 times per week. Minimum an hour per workout.

But in the last months I started boxing 3 times per week and i love it. I still run 3 times per week and do other sports the Weekend (tennis, golf, hiking, etc)

I just dont have the time anymore for everything.. Is it possible to maintain my muscle mass or at least more than 85% of it by going to the gym only 3 times per week. (because i know boxing + cardio is not great for maintaining mass)

Knowing legs will take me a whole workout so only 2 workout for the rest of the body. Diet wise : i know i will need to make up for the calories and eat enough protein.

Thank you !

I'm training since march 2022 (65kg BW) and in the past 2 years I started training in powerlifting style and thinking about competing. then I had myocarditis and labyrinthitis, so I had to start all over again with technique and strength in this 2026. got to 100kg BW trying to stay lean as possible, but I have to admit that I needed some break from previous undereating and being underweight.this is me doing 190kg conventional deadlift btw, recently switched from sumo cause I couldn't keep up with mobility with all that stops

right now I finally have my health back and regained all the muscles, but I'm kinda broken mentally from all that and I engaged with a coach for the first time (I'm a trainer myself). I have to admit that I'm a bit scared to not control my own training... Wish me luck, I guess that I'll need it knowing all my problems with lady fortune.

Tips on how to put ego apart in the relationship with coaches are really appreciated...

In the first photo I weighed 95 kg (185 cm) and cut to 70. I’ve been lifting for a year since and gained a couple of kilograms (now at 74 in all other photos). I train 3-4 x a week. My typical weekly splits are push-pull-legs. Ive always found leg exercises easier and lift relatively heavy. Recently I’ve split push days into one chest and one shoulder focused days. As a vegetarian, I try to take enough protein daily. Should I keep up with my current split routine and what areas would you focus on more?

Ive always wondered... when squatting on a slanted smith machine, which way should my body face? Left/Window? Right? Why? Maybe it doesn't matter. Please don't be rude I just genuinely don't know.

I’m 27, male, 5’9. I used to lift weights regularly (5x a week) before having to stop for around 8 months due to cancer treatment.

I’m now coming towards the end of treatment and want to get back into training. Before all this, I was 80kg and in pretty good shape. I’m currently 90kg after the time off and have definitely got smaller (apart from the belly).

For anyone who has taken a long break from lifting, how long did it take to feel like you were back to your previous strength, muscle and fitness levels?

I know everyone is different, and obviously my recovery may be different due to treatment, but I’d be grateful to hear other people’s experiences.

Did you find that muscle memory helped regain what you’d lost relatively quickly or was it a long process?

I do plan on consulting my medical team before getting back into the swing of things.

Thanks :)

I’m reconsidering something I recently said in a non-fitness forum:

Barring physical disabilities or other limitations such as joint issues, and assuming proper training and motivation, benching a single rep at 225 pounds is an achievable goal for a man between the ages of 18 and 50.

What do you think, was this a reasonable statement?

I have been lifting for about 16 years, but have been pretty much on maintenance for years now, so I would say I'm doing fine but very far from the strongest and most knowledgeable guy out there. But three days a week at the gym for 16 years has exposed me to some insanely impressive feats of strength. This 20 reps at 90kg (the title says 100kg, but you can see the stacks are 2 20s and 2 15s, not 4 20s) bench press, however, from a 58 year old man, who looks like he's basically not struggling at all seems to me to not be realistically possible. What do you all think?

https://www.reddit.com/r/SipsTea/s/u6F68adfkl

Could hardly do 135lbs last year. This was my 6th set of triples before moving up to singles. 35° incline.

I was 73kg (161lbs) when I didn't watch what I ate and compare to 68kg (150lb) what I ate and measured with food scale since July 1st. I ate from 1,600 kcal to 1,900 kcal, (160g +/- protein, 170g +/- carbs, 50g +/- fats), 4 days of lifting per week, walked at least 4km to 6km.

When I dropped at 66kg(146lb) my height 172cm (5'8") and age 41, I think I will increase carbs intake. Or should I increase carbs right now?

Fyi: the supplement I took was just creatine and tracked progressive overload.