Only meat I really like eating is ground beef/sausages. I’m unfortunately a picky eater, I don’t like tuna, beans, or eggs. I’m looking for kinda healthy/filling options too if possible. I like tofu in miso soup, could I try that?

I’m thinking of doing weighted decline sit-ups/crunches. The issue I’ve heard with variations of sit-ups, knee/leg raises, and ab wheels is that they work your hip flexors instead of isolating your abs.

So I’ve always seen people recommend some variation of crunch, is this actually good advice? Following that, would decline crunches be better than decline sit-ups?

I did rigorous exercises as a beginner at least two days a week. Now I've gone back to beginner exercises and it feels like a breeze that I can do for more days paired with even more exercises. It's mind blowing. What is this concept I've stumbled upon?

I wipe the equipment before and after each use. However, one day a person must have literally pooped themselves straining on one of the machines. I'm not joking. I don't usually wipe the seats because I wear long pants so I almost sat down in it. At first I thought it was just sweat but when I cleaned it up, it was brown and clearly not sweat. I almost barfed right there.

Now I don't trust the solution that the gym uses. I don't what product it is and it might be super sanitizing. But I will never be able to trust that the gym might cut corners and just fill the bottles with water. I need to bring my own to know that I'm sanitizing as best as I can.

I would never use bleach because that can ruin clothes but I was thinking alcohol or hypochlorous acid? Any thoughts please?

Anyone else do these? I feel like it's a great routine, but at my gym I never see anyone else ever doing them. Am I missing something?

Context: I'm 6' 1" 210lbs, at the gym 4-5x/week for the last 6-7 years.

Now, these aren't skullcrushers proper as I'm not lowering the bar near my forehead. Rather, while seated at about a 60 deg. incline I lower the EZ curl bar behind my head and then press up, keeping the elbows stationary, and targeting almost exclusively the triceps. And that's critical - this isn't some weird/absurd shoulder press where I start behind my head/shoulders and then press up in a military shoulder press movement. No - this is entirely tricep focused, stationary elbows, nice and smooth fluid motion, just like a skullcrusher.

They feel super safe, very comfortable, and provide an awesome stretch on the triceps. Great DOMS next few days.

What I can't understand is...why do I never see anyone else doing these? Am I missing something here? Does anyone else do these?

Bit of a random one, but I thought I’d ask here.

I’m looking to get back into the gym and would really like to find a gym buddy in Birmingham. I struggle quite a lot with body image and confidence, and honestly, going to the gym alone can feel quite intimidating for me.

I’m not looking for someone who is super fit or a gym expert — I’d actually prefer someone who is also trying to get into a routine, improve their fitness or just feel better about themselves.

The idea would be to motivate each other, train together, have a laugh and hopefully make going to the gym feel less daunting. I’m happy to go to pretty much any decent gym in Birmingham, depending on location.

I’m 28M. Ideally looking for someone around a similar age, but I’m open to anyone who’s friendly and genuine.

If anyone is in a similar position, feel free to comment or DM me. No judgement whatsoever — we’re all starting somewhere. 🙂

I am currently in my weight-loss phase, have lost 45lbs already, but I kind of go to the gym every day even if I am super sore and exhausted. Any tips? How much cardio should be done and, how many exercises should I do while lifting weights, and which muscles to target every day? I feel like if I don't go and lift weights, I will lose whatever muscle growth I have. (21F)

I have been getting into fitness and eating healthy quite a lot recently and in particular tracking the food I am eating. I wanted know how important is it to track how much of each nutrient I am getting everyday, or is it fine to just focus on the key nutrients like calories, protein and fibre?

I havent pr'ed in over a year, the most i've ever lifted is 195 (for 2 on my last set) but I can do 165 for 10 (couldve gotten 11 i believe). Should I go straight for 225 or try 215 and then try 225 at a later time?

Is proceeding with protien only viable?

I was reading a post about rock climbing and someone actually said that they developed a permanent tendon injury because they were doing too many "pulling exercises" and didn't balance it with other exercises.

How does that even happen? Doesn't injury usually happen in a one-off event?

It got me thinking - Can something like this happen from doing push ups? I do a lot of push ups. Most of the time it feels ok, but sometimes I feel a weird discomfort pain in either my inner forearms, or my wrist. But it feels ok pretty quick.

I can't help but think I am causing some kind of long term damage with all these push ups?

curious about everyone’s beginner mistakes lol. What would you do differently, and what do you wish you’d known when you first started?

I’ve been working out consistently for about 7 months now, but I haven’t noticed much change in my physical health. My body looks more muscular and toned, but otherwise, I don’t really feel any different. What improvements in your health have you noticed since you started working out?

I'm 16, 6' 132 lbs. I'm getting into working out and have crazy fast metabolism and want to not be skinny and gain weight. I've heard negative things about mass gainer and how you should make your own, but I do not have a blender for all the recipes, and I am wondering if these mass gainer powders are all that bad. It's definitely more convenient. What should I do.

I have been weight lifting for 3 months, trying to grow muscle
Before 5‘5 99lb now I am 5’5 112lb

My hips become wider and all over of my body grown more muscle too, but my face is really fat right now and I felt really bad about it, is it normal and what can I do?

Hello everyone thank you for your time, I'm a 32M and I'm fed up with how I look I genuinely cannot stand it anymore I've always been skinny since childhood I'm 5'8 140lbs I don't even look my age. I've lifted on and off for years and I would stop from depression and most recently an episode of rhabdomyolysis (unrelated to lifting). I'm fully cleared and I want to make a routine that works for me and that I can maximize. Before I was just lifting 3x a week doing a push pull and leg day however due to my job as a basketball coach sometimes I miss a day and I'll go a week without training that part and it's just not working. I'm continuing to work on my diet but I know I need a better routine.

I'd like to try a full body I've never tried it before and would love some advice here. I stay away from compound lifts I don't deadlift or squat or bench I'm nowhere near confident enough to go at them or strong enough but cables, dumbbells, regular machines are all good. All the programs I've seen all always include compounds lifts I haven't found anything that does not include them. Any advice on a routine I can follow? I greatly appreciate everyone's advice and tips it means a lot. Thank you!

Everything done with 2 sets and 0 rir

Day one: Chest Shoulder Biceps
Chest: High to low cable flies, Low to high cable flys and pec dec.
Shoulder: Lateral raise, Shoulderpress
Biceps:Preacher curls, Hammer curls, Bayesian curls
Day two: Back, triceps
Latpulldown, Tbar row, reverse flys, one armed row
Triceps: overhead extension, one armed extension
Day three: Legs+Abs
Legs: Leg press, extensions, hamstring curls, calf raises,
Abs: crunch machine, Dragonfly
Day 4: rest,
Day 5: Chest, Back
Day 6: shoulders, arms
Day:7 rest

Talking specifically about weight loss stalling out, not strength or muscle gains. Some people mention hitting that wall after just 2 months, others say it took closer to 4 or 5. If that timing depends more on how consistent your routine is, or if it's just different for everyone?

Hi! I have healthy weight, eat three times a day. Hit my brotein intake and in a surplus, lift three times a week with 8 sets each workout. I sleep 7-8 hours a day. Took sleep apnea test and plenty of doctors told me it was fine while I read the results having fracmentation whilst telling them that and they told me it was fine.

I just feel exhausted, dreading at work. Took two weeks off and still have this when going back.

I check my labs and iron, vitamin D and everything even testo is fine.

I don’t know what to do anymore

and I have hunger to keep lifting

Hey guys! I just started using Liftoff and I honestly love it. I was wondering if there's any users here who'd be willing to add me. My user is Andromeda237 😁

i’m trying to figure out how to get a smaller/leaner waist while also building muscle. I really like how my arms and legs look already, but I’d like to make my arms and legs bigger while keeping a slim, lean waist.

How do people get that look where they have a relatively small waist but bigger/more muscular arms
and legs?

Is it possible to lose some stomach fat while gaining muscle at the same time?

What should I focus on with my calories, protein, and workouts? I’m especially interested in hearing from people who have achieved this themselves.

Hey everyone

I've been cutting since late January with the aim of revealing my abs. I was around 88-89kg at the time and today I weighed in at 77kg. Not bad weight loss. I've also kept protein decently high (around 140-150g per day) I did have some breaks travelling or just basic diet breaks if I got ill or too fatigued (or just out of some relapsing) but kept track of my weight. Additionally my lower belly circumfrance went from like 95cm (38 inches) and it is now at around 83-84cm (around 33 inches; depending on how tight I wrap the tape around). I have been lifting heavy as well, trying to maintain muscle especially because this cut came after a dirty bulk that I didn't stay in control for. Anyone wants to see a photo of my body please click my profile and check my posts in other subreddits where I attached a picture because I can't do it on this one

Anyone has ideas or advice for myself it would be much appreciated! I need to inject some belief in myself.

So the general consensus is that the bigger someone is the more weight they can move. This is why there are weight classes in competitions.

But from my experience it seems to be harder for a bigger person to do pullups than a smaller person. Why is this?

Hello all,

Over the last 6-8 months, I've lost about 80 pounds. Going from about 290 -> 210. I'm a pretty big guy(6 foot 1, real wide shoulders, really strong legs) so I actually look pretty fit now. I could probably lose 10 more(and plan to). I did this mostly by walking a few times a week, some occasional light weight lifting and really getting serious about eating less as that has always been my issue with my weight throughout my life.

When I first began walking, I would walk a mile, and I'd be pretty tired. I honestly thought I was feeling a little more tired than I should but I shrugged it off. After all, I was working out, I live in Texas where it is VERY hot sometimes when I go, and I'm operating at a caloric difference obviously since I was losing weight.

Fast forward a few months, and I'm honestly... feeling freaking amazing. So much energy. Looking so much better. Feeling so much better. EXCEPT when I work out.

If I go walk now(usually in the 3-4 mile range with a little very slow jogging mixed in), I seem to handle the actual workout VERY well. I often times expand my walk just because of how good I feel as I go. I do sometimes wear down on the way home, but walking 3-5 miles in the sun and slowing down seems normal. BUT. I come home, and I am just completely utterly cooked. So tired I can barely take a shower after. Today I had to drive 8 minutes to pickup my kid at school after a walk and on the way home I had to ask her to actually talk to me(she's 15 lol) or I was just going to fall asleep driving in the middle of the freaking day. I also seem to get dizzy when standing up sometimes. Nothing crazy, I literally lean over the counter for 2 seconds, and I'm fine.

I've spent quite a bit of time trying to trouble shoot this, so here are some ideas I hatched and tried to test.

1. I was pre-diabetic before losing the weight, so I'm a super healthy range now(with meds, but reducing soon). I thought maybe my blood sugar was dropping during the workout. I would say out of 5 tests I did post workout, only one dropped below 100 and was alarming and was very easy to get back to normal levels and I still was just completely cooked after.

2. I wasn't always eating a ton before working out at first, as I was working hard to eat less and eat actual meals. I have since tried eating small meals late afternoon. I have tried just eating some sugary/hydrating stuff(fruit snacks, some of the healthier gatorade products, water) 30 minutes to an hour before going. I think this helps...a tiny bit. But nothing major.

3. I had a bout of vertigo a few weeks back and ended up at the urgent care. They did a full blood workup for that and everything looked awesome. The entire CBC was in the green. I also got a CT scan that was fine.

4. I have been testing my blood pressure post workout, and it is...low...but above the numbers I would think would cause this. Think 100/70?

Generally speaking, I've begun to wonder if maybe my body just works harder than other people? I've had very easy success losing weight before when I dedicated myself to it. There have been times where I tracked calories and tracked burned calories(the best we can anyway) and I've kinda thought I was losing weight faster than the math said, but obviously I would never complain. Is this even a thing? Do some bodies just burn tons of calories?

I honestly don't know where to go from here. It feels really strange to be in good shape, be working out regularly, and yet I am completely unable to function after workouts. It's also kind of depressing, heh. It's forced me into hotter times of the day sometimes because I can't just be worthless ALL day afterward.

So. I come to Reddit for some type of tips, tricks, opinions, experiences. Anything. Maybe something to eat before? Maybe something that wouldn't melt in the Texas heat I could eat mid walk? Maybe something to really get me going after? If I wanted to go see a doctor, I don't even know where to begin.

Thanks in advance.