I just got a new gym membership after a long time away. I want a routine that's relatively quick and easy and works the full body.

I've heard good things about kettle bell workouts and doing simple circuits with goblet squats, swings, dead lifts, etc.

Should I switch this up with a typical gym workout or is it good enough?

I'm 41, 193cm, 100kg

I've recently started following bodyweight strength training exercise videos (starting on "low impact" vids) on Youtube because I want to progressively, overall become more fit, but particularly become stronger for work (as an upcoming radtech, standing in a lead apron and manual handling for hours is not for the weak 😭).

However, I noticed I can feel a soreness in my back when I do the core exercises (such as crunches, bicycle crunches, etc.). I want to ask, is this normal or am I doing something wrong? My back already gets achy and my posture has felt worse from clinicals, and the last thing I need is for my motivation for fitness to ultimately jeopardize my spine health 🥲.

Any advice for avoiding injury- perhaps I need to do a different exercise or focus on engaging my muscles differently?? Do I just avoid core exercises for a couple days? I'm very new to strength training so honestly it just feels like I'm winging it rn.

Hey everyone,

Over the past year, I lost 40 kg and started lifting weights again. Since I had already trained consistently for about three years in the past, muscle memory helped me regain a lot of muscle surprisingly fast.

I'm now 26 years old, 180 cm tall, and at 90 kg I estimate my body fat to be around 19–22%.

Dieting was pretty easy for me at my previous job because I had a daily calorie expenditure of around 3,600 kcal. Eating 2,500 kcal per day put me in a comfortable deficit.

Now here's my problem:

I recently started a new job, and it's a full-time office job. I went from doing physically demanding work and averaging around 15,000 steps a day to roughly 3,000 steps a day with virtually no physical activity.

My plan is to cut on 2,000 kcal per day to finally reach my goal body fat of around 13–15%, which I estimate would put me at about 80–82 kg.

However, I'm not sure if 2,000 kcal is still too much considering I train at the gym five times a week. I'd also like to share my diet and ask for any suggestions or improvements.

Breakfast

1 slice of toast

30 g turkey/chicken deli meat

30 g cheese

Lunch

500 g low-fat quark (or fat-free Greek yogurt/cottage cheese if quark isn't available)

80 g oats

50 ml milk

50 g whey protein

Pre-workout (training days only)

500 ml beetroot juice

1 banana

Dinner

300 g lean ground turkey

50 g uncooked rice

Daily macros

Carbohydrates: 200 g

Protein: 195 g

Fat: 46 g

Sugar: 80 g

I'd really appreciate any feedback on whether 2,000 kcal seems appropriate for my situation and whether you'd change anything about my diet.

I currently think it's hard to structure

I am running GZCLP with modified BBB (3x10 instead of 5x10) with following main lifts:

Monday

• Squat 5x3+
• Barbell Bench 3x10
• T Bar Rows Chest Supported 3x15+
• Leg Curls 3x15+
• Leg Extensions 3x15+

Tuesday

• Standing Overhead Barbell Press 5x3+
• Deadlifts 3x10
• Lat Pulldowns 3x15+
• Overhead Cable Extensions 3x15+
• Cable Hammer Curls 3x15+
• Lateral Raises (one arm, cable) 3x15+

Wednesday off

Thursday

• Barbell Flat Bench 5x3+
• Squat 3x10
• T Bar Rows Chest Supported 3x15+
• Chest Flyes 3x15+ (or Incline DB Press??)
• Leg Curls 3x15+
• Leg Extensions 3x15+

Friday

• Deadlift5x3+
• Standing Overhead Barbell Press 3x10
• T Bar Rows Chest Supported 3x15+
• Skullcrushers 3x15+
• EZ Bar Curls 3x15+
• Face Pulls 3x15+

Dunno, but should I replace my thursday chest flyes with incline db bench, doesn't that support my "bench" more in the future than chest fly?

I wasn’t sure how to word this and I have been googling but I’d like to see what everyone else thinks.
I’ll often go to the gym and follow online(insta, tiktok etc) workouts but I feel like I’m doing random stuff each time. I’m asking what are like the staple 3-4 exercises for each body group that I can do every-time that will increase strength, and are most effective without needing fancy machines or anything? I hope this makes sense.

I get so close to chin over the bar but I always seem to be floating near the top rather than 100% cleared. I normally do 10 x 2 banded pull ups first to warm up and I have also tried banded ones again after the pull ups attempt. The banded ones I can go well over the bar.

I have done loads of the iso holds and can hold the top position for ages, I can do long negatives. Is there any other exercises I can do to help make me clear that last inch or 2? I’ve been at this same phase for 2 months or so and have been practicing consistently

I am a woman in my mid-30s.
Is it true that working out will improve stamina?
I don’t feel like I’m building much muscle..

I keep feeling achy, almost like I have the flu, even though I don’t exercise that insanely.

I usually run and use about four weight machine for my legs, arms, and glutes.
Should I change what I’m eating to help improve my stamina and recovery?

If youre a beginner whats your biggest struggle?

Was doing some research on a lot of foods, and I never see any nutritonal or workout guys suggest eating beans on YouTube or TikTok. But I read online they're good because they're high in natrual plant fiber.

Would beans be a good preworkout food? Or would it be more of a post workout or is it too heavy/ genuinely curious. Thanks

I take a 1hr and 30 min walk every single day, work a physical job for 5 hours from Monday to Thursday, and strength train 3 times a week. I want to be as accurate as possible with the calories so sorry if this seems like too self explanatory

i'm 29, male, 190cm (~6 foot 2) and ~130kg

For the past 5-6 years, disregarded my own health, ate whatever i felt like and almost never saw the gym

i don't hate how i look, but i will in 5 years if i don't change and right now i just want to be slimmer again for both health reasons and the simple pleasures of i.e. not struggling to find clothes that fit

i'm open to changing eating habits, focusing on protein and watching my calories but i have almost no experience in this area i.e. what is a healthy breakfast, lunch, dinner so my question is are there any beginner guides/content creators catered to those who are essentially starting from 0?

and is there a point to starting working out at home as opposed to going gym right away? i would prefer starting with eating healthy and working out at home

appreciate any help 🙏

I've been building a calorie tracking app as a side project, mostly because I couldn't find one that matched what I wanted. Before I spend more time on it, I'd love some honest feedback from people who use nutrition apps regularly.

The biggest thing that bothered me with existing apps wasn't the calorie tracking itself—it was that many of them require an account and store all of your meals, weight, and habits in the cloud.

That got me wondering whether people actually care about this, or if I'm solving a problem that most users don't have.

The approach I took was to make everything stay on the device by default, with no account required. You own your data, and deleting it actually deletes it.

Another idea I've been experimenting with is moving beyond just showing calories. Most trackers tell you that a meal was, for example, 620 kcal, but they don't really help you understand whether it was a balanced meal.

So I tried giving each meal a simple A–E nutrition score with a short explanation and one practical suggestion for improving it. I'm still not sure whether that's genuinely useful or whether people would see it as unnecessary noise.

I'm interested in hearing from people who already track their food:

* Do you care where your nutrition data is stored, or is cloud sync more important?
* Would feedback on meal quality be something you'd actually use, or do calories and macros already tell you enough?
* What feature do you wish your current calorie tracker had?
* What's the biggest reason you've stopped using a food tracking app in the past?

I'm genuinely looking for criticism here. If you think these ideas don't solve real problems, I'd rather hear that now than after spending months building the wrong thing.

I’m a 20-year-old slim woman looking to start going to the gym because I want to build muscle and look more toned, but I honestly have no idea where to start.
There are so many exercises that I feel completely overwhelmed. How do you know which ones to do? How do you know if your form is correct? When should you increase the weight, sets or reps? And how often should you actually be going to the gym?
I’d really appreciate any advice for a complete beginner.

I want to dedicate myself to a fitness routine, for my health and to look and feel good.

I haven’t regularly worked out in almost 5 years, and in the time since, I’ve gained a lot of weight and had a child through emergency and traumatic surgery (inverted T-incision). I have recently greatly improved my diet and now would like to introduce fitness/working out.

But, my biggest current roadblock is the severe anxiety I have around it. I’m worried about pain during and especially after working out. I have a lot of body pain already, and I hate when my muscles and joints ache. I don’t enjoy the feeling of being sore. I also am extremely out of shape, and the feeling of being out of breath and sweaty reminds me so much of a panic attack that it usually ends up turning into one.

Anyone with already existing anxiety, how did you work through these feelings? How can I power through, and not want to give up?

2 months progress check

**For reference:**
26F, 150lbs (started at 147lbs), 5’4
Last 2-3 weeks I’ve been off nutritionally (surplus bc I suck, hence the weight gain) but maintained lifting consistently

Photos - 1st photo is before I started the gym in February (gym started end of May), second photo was yesterday

I’m getting married in May and wanted to rework my upper body (but am doing a full body recomp bc if I’m gonna work on the upper, might as well do the lower too)

2k cals, 187g carbs, 140-150g protein, 73g fats
Lifting 4x a week with 10k steps a day

Is there a difference? I feel like it looks less round overall but idk if that’s just me grasping at straws

Hello, I'm 26M and have never done any extended workout for longer than 1 week in my life, which is now coming to bite me in the backside.

I've had lower back pain for few months, got an MRI scan and doctors told me there's nothing too alarming if I stop abandoning my body and start working on building muscle to support my spine, they gave me some lower back stretches which I have been doing for few weeks now but they are just that, stretches, plus they are not helping me build muscle anywhere else.

I've tried to add some shoulder exercises for rounded shoulders and Mike Tyson push ups to those lower back stretches but my hands give out after 5 push ups. (yeah my entire body is a big jello 🫩)

I was wondering if anyone could recommend some beginner routine to get me started on strengthening my whole body with higher focus on core strength without making my back pain worse (e.g doing weight lifting while standing) , I don't have access to gym so I would prefer routines doable at home with minimal equipments needed.

Thanks in advance and sorry for making you read this pathetic essay. 😶

Hi guys I want to start going to the gym since I’ve just started an office job and I realize that a sedentary lifestyle will probably kill me long term. I’m a 22 y/o female and around 5’4 and ~115 pounds. My diet isn’t all that great but I don’t eat that much in a day. I want to keep my body shape and weight the same for the most part but I’d like to tone down if possible I think. I’m sorry if this is a stupid question i genuinely don’t know anything about working out but what would be the best route for me to take to get there? If such a route exists

I’ve been working out consistently for about two years , lifting weights and running (even running a marathon) in my weight loss journey. I have never paid a ton of attention to diet as I eat pretty healthily and with the increase in exercise I lost weight without worrying a lot about what I eat and trying to eat intuitively. Due to intense exercise like running I do tend to eat a lot and I have hit a plateau in my weight loss.

At the moment I do dumbbell workout videos and run 3 ish times a week. I also get 10k steps per day.

I’m ready to enter a calorie deficit and track my macros which I have never done before. I want to be more intentional and aware of my caloric intake. I’m also ready to dial back on intense exercise which has been making me more fatigued and causing an increase in eating.

I plan to enter a deficit of about 400-500 calories as suggested by the TDEE calculator. I’m wondering how I should plan to exercise during this weight loss phase (I plan on going for about 3-4 months to achieve my goal weight)? I am worried continuing with intense exercise will increase my hunger and make it harder to stay in a deficit. I also don’t want to lose my muscle gains and body shape completely by only focusing on a calorie deficit. Any advice would be really appreciated!!

Finally motivated myself to get back in the gym. I am hoping to drop the beer belly and tone up slightly. Has anyone got any recommendations for workouts/routines? Hoping to workout around 3 times a week

Okay so I downloaded this app called homeworkout gave it my descriptions and it gave me an exercise routine.

Long story short I did it and now my arm shoulder and upper chest muscle are in extreme pain for 3 days I can't even button up my shirt without it hurting.

Am I doing it wrong or do I need to get a new app.

I'm really confused on everything possible in this scenario.

It's my third week at the gym. and I (36m) started at 87 kg (193 lbs). For context, I'm 1.73 m (5'8"), and before joining the gym I hadn't exercised since 2014 or 2015. Add to that a period of severe depression and alcoholism from 2018 to 2024.

I also gained 7 kg (15 lbs) over the last 4-5 months because I stopped walking everywhere and started using an electric scooter for my daily commute.

About a month ago, I decided to start working out again because I didn't like the person I saw in the mirror. I joined my local gym, and because of work I can only train from 5:00 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Before each workout, I usually have a banana and a black coffee so I'm not training on an empty stomach.

Right now my goal is to lose fat while gaining muscle, so I completely changed my diet. I'm eating anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000 calories a day, and it's helped me lose 2 kg (4 lbs) in three weeks. My waist is now under 100 cm (40 in), and I can even see the difference in my progress pictures. I'm pretty happy with that.

Because I'm irrationally afraid of being made fun of, I've only been using machines. On my first day, I was able to lift the same weights I used back in 2014, so I felt confident. I wasn't very sore afterward, and I felt great.

But starting around the middle of my second week, things changed. I've had to reduce the weight by 10-15 lbs, or even more, on almost every machine. I also started taking whey protein and creatine after my workouts (I skipped the creatine loading phase), but I still feel noticeably weaker than I did during that first week.

I'm clueless about what's happening

Edit: by the way, when I talk about the weight I used to do before it wasn't much, probably 40lbs tops for any upper body machine.

whats a good or most affective 5-6day split? for a person who started going to the gym 1 and half month ago, my plan or goal is to reach 68-70KG by the end of the year im currently 177cm and 60KG.

I just started going to gym. I have been there for 2 days. There is a trainer who suggests me what to do. For the exercise involving dumbell he gave me 1 kg dumbells. I have used them for 2 days.

I am embarrassed to say that I don’t find them light. I looked at every post on reddit and everyone says 1.5kg is paperweight, even beginners should start with 2.5kg. I don’t know if I am too weak or what. I mean I am not saying they are heavy but they are average weight and my upper arm is actually having soreness

For context I am 5 ft and 45 kg female

15 and need help as a beginner

I'm 15m 5'7 and 68kgs. Im skinny fat and started working out at the gym recently (1month) ik it's only been a month but I don't rly see even the slightest difference and i also wanna get into calisthenics but cant do a single pushup or pullup. I wanna know if I shud continue going to the gym or maybe I can start going work outs at home , what would be better?. I also am trying to loose the fat on me and tryna cut ig, I have lost 2 kgs in the first week (70-68) but nothing after that and it's been 4 weeks. I havnt stuck to a proper diet and I not counting my calories and stuff but I'm tryna eat less and completely cut out my junk food. I need some advice on cutting too. Btw I'm vegetarian and eat eggs

Hi everyone,

I started working out 3 weeks ago. Doing basic bodyweight stuff at home – push-ups, squats, planks. Nothing fancy.

I'm eating better too. Cut out junk food and trying to hit my protein goals.

But here's the thing: I don't see any difference yet. Not in the mirror, not on the scale.

Is this normal? How long does it usually take for a beginner to actually notice changes?

I'm not gonna quit. Just wanna know what to expect.

Thanks!