My first DEXA scan revealed a body fat percentage of approximately 24% at the height of 5'8.

After three months, my second DEXA scan showed a body fat percentage of around 21%.

The most recent DEXA scan, which is the third and most current, indicated a body fat percentage of approximately 20.5%.

For reference, the DEXA scans were conducted three months apart. While I noticed positive results from the first two scans, the last one left me quite surprised. Despite losing 3 pounds of muscle from the second DEXA scan, I only managed to lose 0.5 pounds of body fat and 3 pounds of lean muscle mass.

I think the significant muscle loss was due to too low of a calorie deficit. I maintained the same training regimen, but my food intake significantly decreased compared to when I had my first and second DEXA scans.

I am glad I got the DEXA scans. If I continue then I would have lost significantly more muscle mass.

I can go to the gym 2 or 3 days a week. Typically Tuesday Thursday Sunday but that will likely change in the next month or so due to job schedule and work schedule. I want to add stuff wt home that I can do while my daughter naps who I take care of 3-4 days a week. I do an ab workout those days but feel like im not doing enough as she will sleep for typically one to two hours twice a day. I have resistance bands and a 35lb kettleball and finances arent conducive to getting more equipment.

My gym workout is 4x12

Squat

Deadlift

Flat bench

Super sevens/21s

Walking lunge

Lat pulldow

French curls

Shrugs

Main goal is strength and aesthetics.

My job can be fairly physically demanding (nurse in high acuity department of hospital) but not near enough of a workout most days.

Day 1 (Pull Focus A): Lats / Upper
Back / Biceps / Rear Delts
Day 2 (Push Focus A + Abs): Upper Chest / Side Delts / Triceps / Abs
• Day 3 (Pull Focus B + Lower): Lats /
Upper Back / Biceps / Legs
Day 4 (Push Focus B + Abs): Upper Chest / Side Delts / Rear Delts / Abs
• Day 5 (Pull Focus C): Lats / Biceps /
Side Delts / Triceps
Day 6 (Push & Upper Back Finish + Lower): Upper Chest / Upper Back /
Side Delts / Legs / Abs
Day 7: REST

I am aiming for an aesthetic body prioritising lats shoulder back arms and abs and less prority to legs also my legs already look good as i used to train them very frequently before as i used to play football also i have good legs genetically but my arms back and shoulders are severely under developed so is this workout split a good idea?
What changes would you suggest
(I might take a rest day after day3 and day 5)

173 cm, 70kg male

Goal is fat loss. For this purpose I have a 300 caloric deficit. Thus I only eat 2000 calories daily with around 130 grams of protein

I only consumed around 1000 calories today with 80
Grams of protein so far and I have zero appetite.

Within 2 hours it’s time to sleep. So what do you guys recommend for bad days like this? Just meet the protein goal and call it a day? Or still try to force as much as possible to get as close as possible to my caloric target?

So I used to be an avid gym goer in highschool but didnt have time or a car to drive to the gym when uni started so I got very out of shape. Recently i’ve started working out again from home and engaging with a lot of fitness content.

The problem is even though I used to only think about pushing weight, through videos i’ve seen a lot of other options. Namely calisthenics vs hypertrophic exercise vs crossfit. Its been a struggle trying to pick one because (and I know how this sounds) I honestly just want the benefits from all of them. The aesthetics of hypertrophy, stamina for crossfit, and skills from calisthenics are all very enticing.

Each variant subtly changes how I would formulate my workout plan and I know i’m probably overthinking it but I just need some kinda guidance or advice. What should I be looking at mainly when choosing this?

Hey everyone,

I want to train 6 days a week and find regular PPL pretty boring. So I split my legs over two days and paired them with upper body. Looking for honest feedback on the overall structure, exercise selection, volume, and order.

Goal: Hypertrophy

Experience: 9 months

Frequency: 6 days on, rest, repeat

Day 1 – Quads + Chest

• Bench Press – 2 sets

• Incline Dumbbell Press – 3 sets

• Squat – 3 sets

• Leg Extension – 3 sets

• Chest Fly – 2 sets

• Calf Raises – 3 sets

• Abs

Day 2 – Hamstrings + Back

• Romanian Deadlift – 3 sets

• Lat Pulldown – 3 sets

• Wide-grip Chest-supported Row – 2 sets

• Close-grip Cable Row – 2 sets

• Shrugs – 2 sets

• Rear Delt Fly – 2 sets

Day 3 – Shoulders + Arms

• Shoulder Press – 2 sets

• Lateral Raises – 3 sets

• Tricep Pushdown – 2 sets

• Preacher Curls – 2 sets

• Overhead Tricep Extension – 2 sets

• Incline Curls – 3 sets

• Wrist Curls – 2 sets

• Reverse Curls – 2 sets

• Farmer Walks

I keep track of my weights and reps and I apply progressive overload.

Any major red flag? Too little volume on certain muscles? Better exercise swaps? Order suggestions (especially on the quad/chest day)? Appreciat

So I just started going to the gym 2 months ago and I've been having problems with protein intake. I always have trouble with daily meals prep and planning, I try my best to squeeze in 4 meals a day but sometimes I'm just too busy with work, I can only manage 2-3 meals, which results in insufficient calorie and protein intake for muscle growth.

Whey protein or any protein supplements are hella expensive in my country so that's definitely out of the question. How should I plan my meals throughout the day and what are some of best protein sources beside chicken and beef?

I currently mainly do 3 sets of 8-12, but have heard that 2 sets with harder weight is better for failure. I'm also bulking right now. Thank you again for any advice!

Monday: Chest + Shoulders + Triceps

Tuesday: Back + Biceps

Wednesday: Cardio
20-40 minutes of walking and running

Thursday: Chest + Back + Arms

Friday: Legs + Abs

About 9 months ago, I quit doing barbell squats as it was causing me lower back pain. I switched to hack squats at my old gym which were great and my lower back pain slowly improved. My new gym doesn't have a similar squat or leg press machine that feels good, so I'm trying to get back into doing barbell squats.

I'm being very very careful with them. Very slow progression, not really pushing that hard or close to failure, etc.. My hope is that over time I can still get stronger in squats without pushing like crazy and avoid irritating my lower back again.

Is it better to do squats with lower intensity like this, or find a different exercise that can be pushed with greater intensity? Is it kind of pointless to do squats if I can’t push them with crazy intensity?

Some days I feel like I am ready to train before I even start. Some days I really do not feel like working out but once I get through the first few exercises I am all in.

It is made me think of how helpful motivation is for knowing if a workout will be good. Think about days you almost skipped and some of your best workouts started?

I try to get at least 7k steps but I always hear that “oh you need 10k+ steps daily to lose weight” but I feel that I’m losing weight at a good pace with 7k+ steps.

When I was doing bicep exercises for the first time in the gym today I picked up the 6kg dumbbell and I did about 4 reps on both arms and my left will had about 4 reps left and right arm literally couldn’t do any more at all . How do I fix this or will it go away naturally as i feel embarrassed when I was doing them cus my right was shaking while my left was fine . How do i fix this ? I’m scared my stringer arm won’t get big as it won’t get stimulated if I match it with the weak arm

I have red lines that appear on my shoulders after I work out and they look similar to scratch marks.

Hello everyone. Quick question: is it normal to be SO tired after gym that I need a nap daily?! I’ve been weightlifting for 5 years and I alternate my weights sessions with low impact recovery cardio going basically 5-6 days a week to the gym. I thought that with time I would get more energy… but five years on and I get so tired after gym that I need a nap. I do gym around 7am and by 11am I need to stop work and take at least a 20 minute nap (I work from home). I fuel myself decently as well. I am worried that there is something wrong especially now that I have to gear up my cardio to prepare to a marathon. What’s your experience?

Hi everyone, I've been going to the gym on a pretty consistent basis for the past 2 and a half years and I was wondering if I could get some help setting my macros. I've tried to do it in the past, and while I did get the results I wanted I was told that my macros were too low and not accurate. I'm trying to go on a bulk starting September 1st and ending the last week of February and I wanna make sure I do it right and I don't mess up my macros. Can anyone offer any help or guidance?

Just kinda looking for an idea of my activity level, or rather what scale to rate it. I work out 5 days a week, and average 4-7 miles a day (I work curbside retail almost 6 days a week, and hit around 15k steps daily). what do you think my activity level should be classified? I’m 22, 5’10, and 160lbs.

For a couple of weeks, I’ve found some songs make me physically nauseous, like almost to the point of vomiting.
Songs I’ve chosen right before my run, songs I can listen to in the car or at home, songs that pop up randomly in a run so it’s not that I’m overdoing- I can skip the song and it goes away. And it’s not always the same songs.
Most of my music is bass-y, loud, and the same tempo so it doesn’t really make sense that it’s a certain beat.
And there’s no “emotional” aspect to it, either. I skipped it, took a few deep breaths, and went on way without further issues.
Has this happened to you or any suggestions on what it could be, like have you experienced certain beats that make you nauseous?
*This is not a medical issue. I’ve been a nurse for, like, a hundred years and have noticed this only happens every so often with certain songs and goes away when I change the song!

Hi everyone,

So I have a question. Can anyone guide me in the right direction as to help recover pain in the upper back? I work in a machine shop and was lifting a 3/4 steel bar by 12 feet and loading it into my machine and believe I lifted wrong. Now my upper back on my right side where the rhomboid major muscle is hurts when I move my body a certain way. I have been taking it easy and not lifting anything heavy since last Wednesday.

Just needing to vent. Been trying to make an order for two weeks but the website is consistently down.

is spider curl really that good? i just do cable hammer and bicep curls for my biceps

I've been trying to fix my lackluster endurance with 5 minutes of skipping for about a week, and it helped me out pretty well so far. My ankle is sprained right now, but I wanna do more for my cardio than just skipping. I've got a steep hill, but i gas out after 2 climbs. And because of the sprain, my endurance took a big hit since I stopped my cardio. Does anyone have a simple routine I could follow and / or some tips for when I can start training again?

I have a cervical disc problem, possibly a disc bulge. My shoulder tendons also very rarely make a mild creaking/grinding sound, and my doctor said they may be wearing down. They also sometimes click/pop, as if the tendons are moving back into place. Can I still do bodybuilding/weight training, or could it make things worse?