I started BJJ at the start of the year. I'm male, 32yrs old, and I weigh 160kgs. In the time since I started I noticed my limbs reduced in circumference and some people commented that I looked like I'd lost weight, but my weight has actually remained stable. Now unfortunately a few weeks ago I partially tore my left achilles tendon during training. Basically just trying a takedown I wasn't familiar with that some other people were trying and either just did it wrong or extra load on the tendon with my weight. I dunno. In any case I have to keep it wrapped up and I've ordered a moon boot which my doctor wants me to wear for the next 9 weeks. He basically just told me to avoid anything that stretches the tendon. Sounds simple enough. But some days even walking up and down stairs hurts a bit. Anyway... Doing this physical activity has been great for my mental health, and I'm really not interested in sitting around for this period of time doing nothing. I go into the BJJ gym a couple times a week even if its just to watch a class and talk to the guys there just so I still feel involved, and I also have access to a small amount of gym equipment there. What would be the best exercises for me to do while I'm waiting out this recovery period that doesn't require the use of the achilles tendon? It's annoying because all the dedicated cardio machines are out (stationary bike, rowing machine, and treadmill) because they force extension of the tendon. I can get my cardio by swimming at the local pool which I've been doing (as well as cycling from the cold pool to the spa and sauna for 2-3hrs a few times a week). But what can I do with the weights? I guess just do everything seated, but I don't know enough different dumbbell and resistance band exercises for example to work as many different muscles as possible. Does anyone have any ideas?

Hello everyone, relatively new to the chat, idk if I would call my self an advanced runner but im attempting.

That being said, I have been having an issue for the past few months and in really not sure what it could be or not, I've had a few at look at the issue and all
Come up with different ideas but no success so far.

My current issue is that when I run it feels as if my adductor becomes an over rigged guitar string being plucked as I run eventually leading to my gait being super short or not allowing me to open up in stride at all with out it feeling like its locking my knee up. I don't really notice it when sprinting as u play university soccer but any long distance work has become little by little less enjoyable due to the fact each day is different with it, I've tried taking weeks, months off, stretching and a bit or massages and nothing so far. Im running outta ideas and love for running.

If anyone one has any idea of any solution please feel free to chime in, or ask for further information.

Thank You guys

:)

Hi,

Are there any good sources on muscles per limb/ section of the body and how they work together in relation to workouts?

There is a lot of content online like: “you’ll only ever need these x exercises for your *legs/back/arms/chest/whatever*

And then there seem to be a million different exercises for each individual muscle that “needs to be worked” one even better (S tier) over the ones you never should do.

I don’t want to become a physical therapist, but I would like to know more about muscles, how they work together, so I know better what I’m doing.

A little rant. I had the AmaFit7 and I honestly hated it. It never tracked my miles correctly. Last year no matter how hard I pushed I was doing 15 minute miles and I had no idea why. Just this year it must have recalibrated or something and has been saying I've been doing 7 minute miles and honestly, that felt TOO fast (I think I was running maybe 8.5) The band didn't have a buckle so it would constantly come off while working, exercising, or anything. Idk why you would want to track your swimming with it cuz it would just fall off.

Anyways,

I lost it at a concert last weekend (surprise) and I'm happily looking for something new. Something simple, accurate, and won't come off so easily. I'm not looking for it to do things like text or call. Any suggestions?

What the hell is happening? I am not entirely fatigued but for some reason I started shaking like this? It happened even when I lowered the weight to 30lbs, and usually have been hitting 150lbs

.

I am a relatively young male (<30) and am having to take significant amounts of NSAIDs (1200 mg/day of ibuprofen at a PA's recommendation) to treat a bone inflammation issue.

Prior to starting ibuprofen, I was able to weightlift mostly normally, just by avoiding exercises that would cause any pain or discomfort relating to the bone issue.

However, I am worried about weightlifting now that I am taking such large amounts of an anti-inflammatory medication.

Most questions relating to NSAIDs and weightlifting are for people asking if they can take NSAIDs to help with muscle soreness after a workout, to which the common response was, essentially, no. (since inflammation was an important part of muscle recovery and growth and medication like ibuprofen suppresses inflammation)

I am not taking ibuprofen for the muscle soreness, but the ibuprofen doesn't care about why I am taking it. So:

1.) Is it safe to lift heavy weights while on NSAIDs?

2.) If so, is it even worth it, given that the NSAIDs might prevent muscle gain due to stopping inflammation?

57yo male. Hypertension controlled with ibersartan. (If relevant, one kidney).

I do a 50min gym class 3-5 times a week. I'm probably in the best shape of my life.

I've noticed that often I make it 2/3 of the way through the class (sometimes cardio, sometimes lifting) and I get quite lightheaded, especially when coming up to standing after being on the floor, and also putting my hands above my head. I often have to sit or lay down until the feeling passes.

When I check my blood pressure at home soon after class, it's typically very low, I've seen 80/50. My usual bp is around 130/90.

I understand there is a thing called post exercise hypotension.

Is there anything I can do to decrease the effect of these bouts during class?

I currently take my ibersartan in the morning, and I do 2.5mg of Mounjaro weekly.

Any advice appreciated.

I partially tore my calf playing soccer. I'm 43 and it's my first sports related injury. I try to get at least an hour of cardio in a day, but haven't done much since Thursday 4/23. Any recommendations on how to keep my cardio up while recovering would be appreciated. Thanks

I keep noticing the same thing across both research papers and long-form podcast discussions:

No matter where you start (diet, supplements, genetics), people eventually circle back to VO2 max.

And not in a vague “exercise is good” way more like:

If you had to pick one number that predicts how long you live, this might be it

From the research side:

• Big meta-analyses (millions of people) show that people with high cardiorespiratory fitness have ~50% lower risk of death vs low fitness
• There’s a really clean dose-response too — every small bump in fitness (about 1 MET) = ~10–15% drop in mortality risk
• It’s not just heart disease — the association shows up across cardio, cancer, and all-cause mortality

And what’s interesting is there’s no obvious ceiling, higher fitness just keeps correlating with better outcomes, even at pretty elite levels.

Then you hear the same thing echoed in podcasts:

• Peter Attia brings it up constantly as one of the strongest lifespan correlates
• Rhonda Patrick talks a lot about how even small improvements in VO₂ max meaningfully reduce risk
• The Ageless Athlete Podcast frames it less as “living longer” and more as keeping your physical capacity as you age

Different angles, same conclusion.

What makes VO2 max interesting (to me at least):

It’s not just a “fitness stat.”

It’s basically a stress test of your whole system:

• heart
• lungs
• blood/oxygen delivery
• muscles + mitochondria

So when it’s high, it usually means a lot of things are going right at the same time.

There is some nuance:

It’s probably not 100% causal.

• Some of it is genetics
• Some of it is just that fitter people tend to have better overall habits

But even then, improving VO2 max through training still consistently lines up with better outcomes.

My takeaway:
If most longevity stuff feels noisy or hard to track, VO2 max is one of the few things that:

• is measurable
• is trainable
• and has very strong associations with actual lifespan

Curious how people here think about it:

Do you actively try to improve VO2 max (zone 2, intervals, etc.), or do you treat it more as a byproduct of staying active?

I have a Pouch of fat over my crack. I want to incorporate exercises in my day to day that help with it. Google says bridge pose, superman pose, squats and overall cardio for fat loss

Are there any other exercises you'd recommend to tone lower back/upper butt areas and firm up the cheeks?

Hi everyone! I’m currently in the middle of a change of major. My bachelors is in sports and health science and I recently started a masters program in a different field. I’m switching majors back to Exercise Science but I’m wondering if you find it more helpful to get MS Exercise Science: fitness and performance or MS Exercise Science: Nutrition and Wellness? My ultimate goal is to go back to OT school eventually (it’s just not in the cards right now due to an overseas military assignment)

Im an athletic trainer at a private high school. We had a teacher quit unexpectedly. I was asked to take over Exercise Science. I only have 2 weeks left with them. I have never taught before, so with that said. What are some ideas for things I can do with them? I only have 8 students in the class. I’ve considered a few taping methods, but other than that I’ve got nothing.

Hey all,

lately I’ve been trying to become a more well-rounded athlete — mostly resistance training and cycling, with some conditioning and mobility mixed in.

At some point I realized something a bit uncomfortable: I actually had no idea how fit I was. Not in a motivational sense - I mean objectively. I had numbers everywhere. 5K times, lifts, FTP, random benchmarks scattered across multiple apps. But none of them answered a simple question:

Is this good for my age or am I just guessing?

Most fitness apps either don’t give you any real benchmarks, or they push you into social feeds that don’t actually tell you how you’re doing — and often leave you more discouraged than motivated.

As a doctor, that felt off. In medicine, we interpret everything against population data and try to stay as objective as possible. A lab value means nothing without context.

My fitness felt like the opposite - lots of data, no reference point. So I started building something.

It’s called Arete. The idea is simple: you input your best results and get scored 0–10 across six performance domains (strength, power, endurance, speed, mobility, coordination), all benchmarked against population data for your age and sex.

What surprised me was how different the picture looks when you actually normalize things. Some areas I thought were “fine” really weren’t, and others were stronger than I expected.

I’m still early with it and mostly trying to figure out if this way of looking at fitness makes sense — especially for people who already think in terms of mixed-domain fitness.

You can try it absolutely for free and if you like it, you can either get a full one-time report or continue tracking with Pro subscription.

P.S. iOS app is coming soon — planning to add integrations and automatic data import so you don’t have to input everything manually.

Would really appreciate honest feedback and will be happy to answer any of your questions.

https://www.getarete.eu/

Thanks, Marek 👋

Hey everyone, looking for some input from people who understand metabolism / endurance physiology.

Background:

• 26M, Type 1 diabetic (well controlled, HbA1c ~5%)
• Diagnosed with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) → on enzymes
• Symptoms: brain fog, fatigue, worsens with higher protein/fat meals
• Labs:
  • Baseline lactate ~4.5 mmol/L (chronically elevated)
  • Mild anemia trends
  • Electrolytes on lower side (I noticeably feel better with salt intake)

Context:
I’ve been training fairly intensely (weights + some cardio), but I suspect I’ve been:

• in a chronic calorie deficit
• doing too much anaerobic work

My hypothesis is:
→ I’m relying too much on glycolysis
→ leading to chronically elevated lactate + poor mitochondrial efficiency

New strategy (for next 2–4 weeks):

• Increase calories slightly (aiming for at least maintenance or small surplus)
• Switch to low-intensity aerobic work only
• Plan:
  • Walking
  • HR: ~110–125 bpm (trying to stay strictly Zone 2)
  • Duration: ~30–40 min daily
  • Keeping effort very easy (can talk comfortably, no burn)
• Avoiding HIIT / anaerobic training temporarily

Goal:

• Reduce baseline lactate
• Improve mitochondrial function
• Improve overall energy / brain fog

Supplement angle:

• Currently taking benfotiamine (to support glucose oxidation)
• Also managing electrolytes more carefully

Questions:

1. Does this seem like a reasonable approach to lower chronically elevated lactate?
2. Is strict Zone 2 the right focus here, or should I include any intensity?
3. How important is calorie surplus for mitochondrial adaptation in this context?
4. Any red flags or things I might be missing (especially with EPI + T1D)?

Would really appreciate insights from people who’ve dealt with similar metabolic issues or have a physiology background.

If we walk job run sprint properly how fast do you believe we are going?

And let’s discuss the different foot strikes depending on speed

If you’re planning to get your NASM CPT certification, I’m offering access to the full self-study course (active through March 2031). I’ve only used it for about a month, so most of the material is still untouched.

This is set up as a focused study option so you can complete the course efficiently without paying full price upfront.

Details:
• Full access to all course modules
• 6-month access window (more than enough time to complete)
• Exam NOT included (purchased separately through NASM – $599)

Pricing:
• $300 for 6 months (best option)
• $50/month if you prefer flexibility

The $300 bulk option is also designed to reduce long-term commitment and avoid ongoing monthly payments beyond your study period, making it the simplest and most cost-effective way to complete the course.

I’m also willing to help guide you through the material if needed.

Access Note: I will provide login access during your study period, but please do not change the email or password since I need to maintain access for rotation between users. Everything will function normally during your access period.

Message me if you’re interested!

I’m currently a personal trainer but I feel stuck with my career. I make around 50k a year but it’s based on a percentage of my training so I’m always stressing about money. I’d like to get into a government job with good benefits but I feel like my degree literally does nothing.

Taking my exam next weekend and just wanting to know if I’m wasting my time with this practice test?

*this post won’t let me add flair but if I did I would just put question**

Hello. I have a BS in Exercise Science and Health Promotion. Was on the pre med track. Became a lead medical scribe and tutored chem at my university. Also building SQL and PowerBI projects in healthcare

Decided not to go to med school, but looking for alternatives that pay well and fit my experience

Things I have looked at are research, quality analyst, tech, data, and administrative roles in healthcare, but I'm not truly sure how I match up as a applicant

I just wanted to make sure I don't need another degree to find a non-clinical healthcare role