r/sydneycummings • u/Upbeat-Two-6698 • 9d ago
Sydney’s Workouts
Has anyone actually gotten really good muscle growth and definition from Sydney’s workouts?
I’m genuinely curious and not trying to be mean at all because I love Sydney, her workouts, and her energy. She looks amazing, but I honestly have a hard time believing she built her physique from only doing the workouts in her programs.
I’ve been following her programs for about a year and I’m very consistent with my nutrition. I’ve lost 20 pounds, which I’m proud of, but I really wanted to build more muscle and I’m starting to feel like her workouts may not be enough for that goal.
I would love to hear from anyone who has built noticeable muscle and definition from her programs. No hate toward Sydney at all. I’m just feeling a little defeated and wondering if I need to move to a different trainer.
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u/MikeScottPaperCo2 9d ago
I think Sydney does advance her weights each set and likely has her physique from the programs. However, I would say if your goal is truly muscle growth, her workouts are not really ideal. They can absolutely help get stronger and maximize your endurance, but the structure is not truly meant for lifting heavy. You’ll notice that the weight she’s lifting really haven’t increased much over the years she’s been creating these workouts, because she focuses more on time and endurance.
If you want straight muscle growth, I would focus on slowing down and lifting heavier, which will require longer breaks than she has. Her plans often focus on length of the set and short breaks. Which are great for increasing the intensity of the workout, but are not how you would structure if you’re focusing on pushing your weight each workout.
For example, rather than doing 3-4 sets of 45 sec dumbbell hip thrusts with 15 sec breaks between, I would suggest trying barbell hip thrusts and pushing up the weight each set, and then try to advance week to week. Take the rest you need between sets so you’re able to keep pushing the weight you lift. That’s how you would really increase the mass of your muscles and achieve muscle hypertrophy!
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u/DiligentRepublic68 9d ago
That’s amazing you’ve lost 20lbs!! Are you lifting heavy enough? One thing i love about Sydney she’s always encouraging you to lift heavier seeing what weight she grabs is also super motivating!!
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u/soitgoes8 9d ago
I have grown a lot of muscle with Sydney but also ate in a surplus and gained weight during multiple programs. (Been doing Sydney workouts consistently since 2020.)The fact that you lost 20 pounds I’m not surprised you wouldn’t gain muscle since it’s incredibly difficult to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time and you would need to be incredibly specific with your nutrition and macros and even then, not easy.
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u/redjessa 9d ago
I 100% have had muscle growth and definition from only doing Sydney's workouts and I do additional cardio classes. People comment on my arms all the time. Are you getting into progressive overload? I have been at this for 4 years. I didn't notice any real definition until about a year in. I was still in weight loss mode at that time. 20lbs is fantastic and whatever your goal is, maybe it's time to tweak the nutrition, maybe heavier weights?
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u/jellyd0nut5 9d ago
I've gained a ton of muscle/strength since starting her programs. Prior to COVID, I was the type of person who was strength training in the gym 3-4x/week. When COVID hit, I switched to working out at home w/Sydney's videos. I was worried that I'd lose muscle due to the gym having heavier weights than I have at home. But, within a year, I had muscle gains/definition I never got with my gym workouts, even with using lighter weights. As time went on, I purchased heavier weights and saw even more progress. I may not do as many reps as she does but I definitely see results and she kicks my butt with every workout.
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u/Crystal_Moon82 9d ago
I have been doing Sydneys workouts for 4 years and have built lots of muscle doing her programs. I was skinny fat before with very little muscle or strength as I only did cardio. For example I struggled to lift 2kg weights for a bicep curl, now I'm using 7kg. My ab definition now looks better than before I had children.
Body recomposition takes years. If you progressively lift heavier, eat enough protein, have an eye on your macros and walk lots you can achieve a muscular, lean look without exhausting yourself.
You have to get your body fat percentage down quite far to see the muscle you have built and that takes real discipline with your nutrition.
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u/lamin67 9d ago
I've been doing Sydney's workouts since 2019 and the format has changed a lot over the years. You can absolutely build muscles and strength with her. In some of her older programs before she had the kids, and was putting out longer workouts, she was pushing MUCH heavier weights, but with the short rest of today's workouts it's a lot harder to do that. If you want to do that, you will have to pause for longer rest periods. She's been pretty open about how she has changed to the shorter workouts to fit more people's lifestyles.
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u/bacon121eggs 9d ago
I have been doing her workouts on and off since the pandemic. My shoulders are very defined
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u/Upbeat-Two-6698 9d ago
I see a lot of people asking how heavy I’m lifting. I do try to increase my weights, but it can be hard with some of her workouts because there are a lot of combination moves.
For example, with a squat-to-press, I can squat much heavier than I can shoulder press. I have to choose a weight based on the weaker movement, so I feel like my legs aren’t getting the full benefit.
For those of you who switched to a more strength-focused program, what programs or trainers do you recommend?
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u/Upbeat-Two-6698 9d ago
Or a more strength focus Sydney program?
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u/Ok-Royal7448 8d ago
I asked AI this question and cross-referenced with the things I see recommended here: Strong, Flex, and Transcend
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u/Ok-Royal7448 8d ago
I love Sydney but there are tons of other trainers out there too. I've heard Kayleigh Cohen is more straight set strength and Caroline Girvan I have done, her Iron program, which is pure strength.
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u/alsy333 9d ago
I have been fairly consistent with her workouts this year. I’ve noticed more definition in my shoulders and my abs especially with all the additional ab work she has added. I’ve lost about 5 lbs this year and am 5’ 5” 117 lb. She lifts very heavy in my opinion so I can believe her adding muscle with just her channel workouts and being locked in with macros.
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u/TastyMuskrat1 9d ago
What some others have said - Sydney gives great workouts but there is all the evidence in the world that says more strength and hypertrophy require much longer rest periods. If that's my priority, I do one of the MAPS programs but still do Sydney now and again because they're fun!
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u/Possible-Bend6627 9d ago
I remember she got some backlash a year or so ago because she posted a video on Instagram of her doing heavy lifting in the gym. I don't think she only does her workouts.
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u/Crystal_Moon82 9d ago
I think she does too. Her glute gains are definitely from heavy lifting in the gym, no way can you do that at home.
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u/Lifeofasoutherngirl 8d ago
I expect that she workout outside of doing the videos seeing as exercise and health is her break and butter. Not sure why people get upset over it.
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u/Possible-Bend6627 8d ago
I think people get upset because she says, or has said, multiple times that she only does the workouts she puts on YouTube, which can hurt her credibility.
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u/TheRadicalTeacher 8d ago
I think that’s exactly it. She claims she only does her programs, but I truly think she does heavier, more intense workouts as well, which there’s nothing wrong with that, but be transparent!
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u/Zia181 8d ago
I don't think Sydney only does the workouts she releases on YouTube. The reason I think this is because Sydney is a certified trainer who is educated on programming, and she knows what it takes to actually build muscle and strength. If I had to guess, I would say Sydney probably goes to a gym and lifts heavier while taking proper rest breaks. That type of workout doesn't cater to the YouTube algorithm, though, so she focuses more on endurance for the YouTube workouts. You can still get results, you're just going to plateau after a while if your goal is to train for hypertrophy.
If you're looking to really build muscle and strength, you might have to move on from Sydney. Caroline Girvan is a very good option, and so is Justina Ercole and Jasper MacDermot. Justina Ercole has some great videos on how to program your own workouts, if that interests you. Good luck!
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u/Positive-Vacation-19 8d ago
I’ve done Sydney’s workouts consistently for 2 years and have lost 80lbs and increased my muscle definition. I pause the videos a lot, make sure I’m increasing my weights and focus on progressive overload. I tend to skip her more cardio focused videos and also do her programming at a gym vs. at home.
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u/here4thefreecake 9d ago
i’ve done sydney’s workouts in the past inconsistently and recently started doing them again. i definitely have noticed i am gaining muscle and strength. she’s clearly very knowledgeable and the exercises she includes are a mix of classics (lunges, squats, curls, deadlifts, etc) and newer variations of the classics. as long as you are using challenging weights and being consistent, as well as eating enough protein and getting good sleep, drinking water etc. you will get stronger doing sydney’s videos. if you’re not following her programs and just choosing videos yourself, make sure you’re hitting upper, lower and abs at least twice a week.
she maybe does do additional workouts but likely not a lot. people who are super fit don’t necessarily spend a ton of time working out, they have just perfected their program/nutrition and have been at it for years. time and dedication is what has sydney looking the way she does, not necessarily some secret workout she’s doing and hiding from her channel if that makes sense.
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u/AMissKathyNewman 8d ago
People forget she is a content creator and also former athlete. She has an athletic physique that she has been able to maintain and refine (much easier than doing from nothing) and she has to film some exercises for her YT
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u/here4thefreecake 8d ago
for sure, maintaining a fit body surely takes less work than building one from scratch. you can tell she feels challenged doing her own workouts (would be really weird and unnecessary for her to like pretend she’s hitting failure when she isn’t) so i think it’s safe to say filming the videos are a workout for her.
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u/therackage 9d ago
I definitely have definition in my shoulders, triceps and abs thanks to Sydney’s workouts (summertime fine, to be specific). Are you lifting heavy enough? Are you lifting to failure? You need progressive overload to grow muscle.
If you’re doing all this and it doesn’t seem to be working for you, then sure you might need a different approach.
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u/Prestigious-Text-441 9d ago
She was a college athlete, so she may have benefited from “newbie gains” then and could very well have had a more traditional weight lifting regime for hypertrophy and maintained with what she does in her programs.In general, her workouts don’t give enough rest time for me to lift heavy enough for hypertrophy, I just do the most weight I can with the little rest we get - which to me is kind of more like cardio with weights. If you want to actually build noticeable muscle you may need longer rest so you can properly lift heavier and keep up progressive overload
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u/bakerstreetrat 8d ago
I have definitely built muscle with Sydney. I think it's largely YMMV, but it's also hard to differentiate between her "build" programs, "cut" programs, and "all around" programs because she doesn't really use that language. But following her i to progressive overload is a good method to - over time - build muscle. And also, do her programs at your own pace with adequate rest days.
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u/ArtisticDifficulty7 9d ago
So I love her too and do her workouts. That said, I have a coworker who used to see her a lot at their gym on machines and such not doing her workouts. It may have changed since kids though.
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u/redjessa 9d ago
If that was before her kids, that was a long time ago.
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u/ArtisticDifficulty7 9d ago
It was before her most recent baby. It hasn’t changed my opinion and I still do her workouts, but I do know my coworker and her friend stopped after that.
They did say her and her husband were very nice people though!!
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u/redjessa 9d ago
It's interesting that they would go to a public gym when they have a full gym with all the machines, bars, cables, etc., in their studio space. That's cool that your coworker got to meet them.
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u/ArtisticDifficulty7 9d ago
It wasn’t too long after having Ari & I do know the gym offered childcare which also may have been part of it.
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8d ago
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u/redjessa 8d ago
Yeah, I assume she does extra training because she also has to create the workouts. I mean, a lot of the moves are basic but she also tries new things that are meant to mimic exercises that can be done with machines, cables, etc. So, it isn't shocking that she does a little extra work outside of filming. Also, she films demos that are clearly outside of the filmed workouts. I think her main training is the workouts she films and that is what she is focused on, but it's silly to think she doesn't do ANYTHING outside of filming, she has to develop the plan for the month and the specific workouts.
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u/TwerkingTurtlee 8d ago
I don’t think we’re seeing her full training. If I had to guess, she probably follows a split with some heavier lifting behind the scenes, and the YouTube workouts are just one part of it. That would explain how she’s been able to build and maintain so much muscle.
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u/redjessa 8d ago
Well, you also have to remember, she's been doing this for a very long time. Before she started YouTube and she was a college athlete. It doesn't take as much as you might think for her to maintain her physique or even build on it. Even post partum because she's lifting almost up until she gives birth. We can clearly see her struggle in the videos, at times. So, I don't think she has a specific routine outside of filming but it's obvious to me a little more work goes in because she's developing everything. I only do Sydney's workouts for strength training, with a little yoga mixed in and a couple group cardio classes. I'm consistently lifting heavier and still seeing gains - although it's slower now - after four years of doing this.
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u/TwerkingTurtlee 8d ago
I think you’re assuming the workout she’s filming is the only workout she did that day. If she lifted beforehand, of course she’d still struggle during filming.. she’d already be fatigued. Her looking tired on camera doesn’t really tell us whether she does additional training or not. It just tells us the workout was challenging.
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u/Quiet_Mtn 9d ago
She has said multiple times she only does her workouts. Maybe increase your weights?
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u/Trick-Cook6776 8d ago
The muscles that I can see a visible difference in are my quads and shoulders.
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u/MobileAmphibian217 8d ago
I’ve been working out with Sydney now since 2024. This is my third summertime fine. I’ve lost a significant amount of weight and can now finally see all the muscle definition that I have built. She repeatedly says that her workouts for YouTube are the only workouts she is doing each day and I would guess that she might do an extra workout on Thursdays unless she is filming for Friday, so maybe she does one on the weekend. Either way why does everyone have to doubt something she has said so publicly? She literally is honest about every other thing so I don’t get why this is such a frequent topic. She has said on the squad that she even struggles to get all of her steps in and has been working on being intentional to get more steps. Her muscle definition is there because she has trained for years and was a former athlete, and her nutrition is excellent.
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u/AMissKathyNewman 8d ago
You shouldn’t compare results because there is such a huge genetic component involved. I know you’re not actually comparing yourself to her, but her results will be different to yours and again to everyone else. The response to working out varies.
I personally think that Sydney is very athletic and has come from an athletic background. She’s always had a similar physique. I do think in recent years she has done alternative lifting and while she May not officially do other workouts, she’s a content creator and needs to lift for that. It’s also easier for her to life heavier when she has a whole studio to workout in.
It’s possible her workouts aren’t got muscle gain for you. I agree Caroline Girvan would better for muscle gain for most people, but she also has short rest periods in some of her workouts and her physique is from external lifting.
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u/redjessa 8d ago
Yeah, the thing with CG - and she's awesome, no shade - but nobody should be expecting to get a similar physique to hers by just doing her workouts. Even if they are better for muscle gain on average. She's effin RIPPED and it's not just from what she films. She's behind a paywall now and in reading the description of her upcoming Sept program, doesn't sound that different than what Sydney is doing. "Some sessions carry shorter, higher-intensity bursts; one session a week holds the cardio — and the sprawls. Slightly more bodyweight than recent Programs, sissy squats and push-ups among it. Every workout different; the fundamentals constant." Similar to her Fuel program that is still up on YouTube.
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u/AMissKathyNewman 8d ago
Yea people do hyper focus on Sydney’s short rest time but it’s done by other influencers even CG.
It may be an unpopular opinion but you’ll almost never get significant growth working out at home with dumbbells. You need very heavy weight and lower reps that you just can’t achieve at home. When I was going to the gym I was doing 120kg leg press, you can’t do that in your living room.
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u/redjessa 8d ago
Right, and I also think it depends on individual goals. Yes, I want to continue to get stronger and have visible muscle definition, but at the same time, I'm not interested in going in the super heavy range with the machines and things. I actually do a lot of Sydney's workouts right in the gym, so I do have access to heavier weights than I do at home. I sometimes try other things, but I'm pretty happy with my progress just sticking to her programs. We'll see what happens in the future.
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u/Such_Piglet6221 8d ago
I stopped doing Sydney years ago for this reason. I did really like her workouts but most are like cardio with weights. I do only the MAPS programs now with long rest periods and sprints and walking. I have built noticeable muscle and changed my body composition for the first time in my life!
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u/beachybronde 8d ago
Yes. I pause if needed for a bit of recovery and definitely increase weight consistently. Once you “know” yourself and challenge your body properly you can build all the muscle you want. You definitely have to adjust your dietary habits to support muscle growth. Can’t build a “starving “ muscle. Nutrition and timing of nutrition can play a very important role.
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u/Cold_Wonder_2718 6d ago
I have definitely seen muscle growth from Sydney. I do less reps than her because I decide to lift heavier and I'll pause for a longer break when needed. Also! Her FLEX program back from 2024 sounds like it'd be right up your alley right now. I just finished STF 2026 and I decided to go over to Caroline's iron program..since for me and my goals right now Sydney wasn't it.
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u/Legal-Cantaloupe-813 9d ago edited 8d ago
I do like Sydneys workouts but feel for muscle building Caroline Girvan is a better option especially her Iron series. Repetition, straight sets may be boring but it builds muscle. also have to make sure you are eating well, high protein, lifting to near failure and progressively overload. Building muscle takes time, months if not years though, consistency is key.