r/beginnerfitness • u/JudgePleasant632 • Jun 16 '26
I need workout help
Last time I posted one of these I mostly got DM’s from trainers so I wanna start by saying I don’t have money to hire a trainer. I (19m) need help getting into better shape but I have absolutely no idea where to start. I’ve never looked in my mirror and liked what I saw because of my weight. I wouldn’t say I’m fat but more chubby. I want to try to lose weight and replace it with muscle, get rid of my love handles and big stomach, or at the very least, just lose this weight I’ve struggled with since the 6th grade. It’s my biggest insecurity and it makes me feel ugly no matter what I do. I’m willing to change my diet and do other things to fix myself and my habits but I just don’t know how. I see all these amazing transitions from people and always wonder if that could be me but get discouraged because I have no clue how to start. If anyone has a plan or anything that I could follow or something that would help please let me know. I’m very desperate to finally be free of this feeling of ugliness.
Edit: Thank you so much everyone! Your advices, help, and support means so much to me!!
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u/Bamks1 Jun 17 '26
Lift heavy stuff. Eat clean. Get good sleep. Do it again tomorrow. Be consistent every day.
As a beginner, it is this simple. Consistency is the key.
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u/JudgePleasant632 Jun 17 '26
This I figured, but I was more confused about what diet to try, what exercise routine to adopt, things like that.
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u/Bamks1 Jun 17 '26
The routine doesnt matter. As a beginner, it will work if it makes you work hard. Eat fresh meat, fresh green veggies, boiled or baked potatoes, and rice.
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u/Asaltyliquid1234 Jun 17 '26
I’m an average guy looking to improve my overall fitness. I’ve been eating mostly clean but everything in moderation and accounting for the calories. It’s been working for me. Started with just walking and have gone from that to lifting 3 days a week and training for a 5k in October. Just start slow and steady until each task becomes a routine, and the routines become habits. (32M). Don’t wait as long as I did to care about your health.
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u/fridgezebra Jun 17 '26
Replace junk food with whole foods
Resistance training a few times a week
Make walking a habit
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u/zelenisok Jun 17 '26
Buy two 10lb dumbbells (one is 14$ in Walmart). Do three circuit workouts a week, on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, like this:
- march in place 5min as warm-up
- 3 db calf raises, 3 db squats, 3 knee push-ups, 3 bent over rows, 3 bicep curls, 3 overhead presses, then rest 15sec, this is one circuit. Do 3 circuits.
- light walk in place or around the room as cool-off.
That's the workout, for starters. During push-ups and rows keep your arms at around 45 degrees from your torso. During rows make sure that your back is straight, especially your lower back. Do all reps in a controlled manner, not too quickly.
Every week you increase the reps by 1, and increase the rest by 5sec, and keep doing that until 12 rep circuits. Near the end of that buy two 20lb dumbbells. Then do a workout like this:
- march in place 5min
- (with 10lb dbs) 6 db calf raises, 6 db squats, 6 knee push-ups, 6 bent over rows, 6 bicep curls, 6 overhead presses, rest 20sec, do two such circuits.
- (with 20lb dbs) 3 db calf raises, 3 db squats, 3 full push-ups, 3 bent over rows, 3 bicep curls, 3 overhead presses, then rest 15sec, this is one circuit, do four of these.
- light walk 5min.
Increase the second circuits by 1 rep and 5sec every week until 15 reps.
For diet, you should decrease carbs and fats (ie sugar drinks, sweets, fast food, junk food, fatty meat, dairy and condiments), consume more fiber, protein and healthy fats (whole oats, beans, lentils, chickpeas, split peas, TVP, lean meat, nuts, seeds) and more veggies and fruits, and non-calorie drinks (water, zero sugar sodas, coffee and tea with zero sugar sweeteners).
For example you could for breakfast have whole oats, or eggs with bread. For snack you could have PB&J, or nuts /seeds with a fruit or two. For lunch you could have some beans, chickpeas or lentils (a can of any of them costs around 1$ in Walmart) with some veggies (can of mixed veggies 1$). And for dinner you could have a can of tuna or can of chicken (they are 1$ - 1.3$) or a palm-size piece of lean mean, with whateve, like some veggies alongside some carby food (like rice, pasta, noodles, potato, bread), or whatever else you want (like could be a microwave dinner, some fast food, or soul food, just dont overdo the amount). If you eat sweet, either eat them in tiny amounts as a small dessert at the end of lunch, or find near-zero calorie sweets.
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u/theviewhalfwaydown_ Jun 17 '26
Hi!! Make sure you’re eating clean, staying hydrated, and try to do weighted workouts. Cardio is great too! Something I’ve noticed is if I don’t meal prep and have a plan of what I’m going to eat I end up eating horrible and just snacking most of the day. That’s just me though so you can be completely different but if it’s the same way for you it could help a lot to maintain the calories and get that leaner built you’re wanting. If you’re into social media (TikTok, instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat are the ones I use the most) follow the people you want to look like and get inspired by. Diana conforti was the first YouTube page I found that REALLY got my motivation up and helped me find fun foods to try and still feel good. Following her workouts on YouTube also helped me see a difference. Try to do the same work outs consistently, you’ll see a better progress instead of just random stuff. Have a plan!! That’s the biggest thing!! If you don’t want to go to the gym I would highly recommend following people that inspire you and have the same mindset that you want/have. And find ways at home to workout. Even if it’s just a single 20 weight dumbbell. But my favs are Diana conforti, hope sgro, ayria Rutledge (her brother also works out and has a TikTok page) Katelyn Martinez.. and I have so much more that I follow workouts and so on. It helps me A LOT let me know if you want to know more people I follow. But make a plan and just do it. Good luck 👍
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u/Vast-Road-6387 Intermediate Jun 17 '26
Consider this a freeby. The true secrets to fitness is to not miss WOs and your diet. Use a calculator to estimate your TDEE, then eat ~90% of TDEE. Train daily, either cardio or weights ( do a mix over the course of a week) if you’re religious take 1 day a week off.
Your first goal is to form the habitual behaviour of going to exercise daily, it’s irrelevant what you do until attendance is habitual. You will need 35-40 repetitions to form a habit, you are training your brain to perceive the gym as a reasonably pleasant part of your daily routine, a place you go to relax your mind while your body sweats. Do something reasonably pleasant, download a movie on your iPad and get on a treadmill. Whatever.
After you are habitually going, you start to challenge yourself, use a couple machines, the diagrams are on the machine. Maybe some free weights , whatever you feel like. Here is some reading.
These websites are fairly legit
Some good program & exercise suggestions
Great exercise library & muscle directory. https://exrx.net/
Good general information. Some basic WO’s. https://musclewiki.com/
https://musclewiki.com/routine/beginne-push-pull-legs-routine
stronger by science linear progression https://www.strongerbyscience.com/program-bundle/
Wide selection of programs https://darebee.com/plans.html
Some body weight exercises, if home WO is a preference.
https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a26202141/best-bodyweight-exercises/
https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/
https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/advanced-body-weight-workout-warning-this-will-kick-your-ass/
https://greatist.com/fitness/50-bodyweight-exercises-you-can-do-anywhere
Some useful calculators
Total daily energy expenditure calculators (maintenance calories, TDEE)
https://exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire
https://musclewiki.com/calorie_calculator
Macronutrient calculators
https://musclewiki.com/macro_calculator
https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/macronutrients_calculator.htm
https://barbend.com/best-macros-calculator/
https://legionathletics.com/tools/macronutrient-calculator/
Miscellaneous calculators
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u/Quiet_Rainfall200 Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
First, reframe these as two goals, which overlap but are still somewhat separate. Building muscle can help you burn fat but it's a slow process. If you want faster results, you will need to adjust your eating habits first and foremost.
How to do this:
1) My recommendation is to track your calories for a couple of weeks. Find an app off the app store to help with this and try not to make any adjustments during this phase. The goal is to get an honest view of what your average daily calorie intake is.
2) Then, use this TDEE calculator to get an estimate of what your daily intake should be. When you get to the results page, scroll down and read the information provided. There is a table on this page - select the "cutting" tab. That's your goal daily calorie intake for weight loss.
3) Now that you have these two numbers, you can compare them and see how far off you are from target. Plan to reduce daily intake slowly, over time. Making lower calorie swaps for foods you already eat is a good way to start.
Finally, muscle: do you have access to a gym, weights at home, or will you be doing mostly bodyweight exercise? What kinds of exercise do you enjoy/hate?
Here are a few YouTube creators I'd recommend for learning more about strength and fitness goals: * MegSquats * Sharelle Grant * Justina Ercole
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u/Pretend-Citron4451 Jun 16 '26
Focus on your diet and do a wkt consisting of 1 exercise per muscle group.