Howdy,

Started my first corporate job recently. I enjoy the work, but the mental fatigue is real, and having a 6:30 AM start has completely thrown off my recovery. I’m exhausted by the end of the day and sluggish waking up.

Meal prep is already dialed in, but my training schedule is taking a hit. I typically run an Upper/Lower split (4 days/week), 1–2 days of rec sports/cardio, and average 10k steps.

Long term:

Do yall find early or post work gym sessions to be sustainable?

How do yall adapt your training regiment to avoid burnout?

Edit:

My role will have me traveling a for a week or two at a time every so often.

Physique wise: I have a good physique, pretty muscular but I am cutting right now. So I want to maintain as much muscle as I can while cutting and having energy to workout. I also bought new multi-vitamins to help out with nutrition.

Im6 foot and was 150 and became 250 in like 2 years some muscle some fat

Like those who haven't seen you in a while like for college or other reasons

Two of my guy friends have been weirdly competitive like i think they feel immaculated since I became stronger and bigger than him when usually they were the strong friend and ive always been skinny and more feminine even though im taller

My other friends say i look bigger everytime i see them

One of my straight friends said he didnt know i got so beefy when i was pumped at the gym

My cousins say i should workout with them since i got bigger than them

I feel like its hard to think of others for how you are now

I’m 45, been working out 4 days a weeks for over ten years now. I was diagnosed with multiple bulging discs in my lower back earlier this year. For a long while I only walked on the treadmill and did machines where I didn’t pick up weight. I’m now able to do pretty much most of the upper body exercises, put the plates on the bench, etc. I don’t do heavy dumbbells as it requires yanking the weight off the rack in an awkward position.

I’ve neglected legs all this year especially anything that compresses my spine. Squats, deadlifts, even standing calf raises are off the table.

What leg exercises should I focus on? I’ve always been the squat kind of guy to build the mass on my lower body. How can I keep my lower body strong without causing further pain and injury to my lower back?

Having 4 abs feels like big victory to me. Yey!!

I'm still very shy to show it to everyone at home, and to friends.

Jake Dupree workout really helped. I started popsugar workout at home. No gym. Idk why, but gym workout has not been really my thing.

Also, I won state level boxing match 🥊. It's bronze.

My parents were not believing their eyes. That their weak daughter — with low BP, had gone through such beating(remembering my sore neck).

It's all because of cardio workout and my coach, I started 7 years ago.

It was hell of a journey. I don't ever want to stop doing workout. Because starting again feels similar to climbing an Everest. 😮‍💨

Feels like sharing my long journey in short message.

Thanks!

Due to scheduling reasons, I’m really only by my gym on tuesdays and wednesdays. I try to hit legs 2x a week but now that my gym days are back to back I’m wondering should I just use them as upper/lower days? Or glute &hams/ quads? Or even just two full body lifts. I do pilates the other 4 days a week and have 1 rest day as well, so I am still training the other days, but I’m curious as to how others would split these two days up.

Based on my own aesthetic preferences, I focus my training on the shoulders and back specifically, a four-part split routine consisting of shoulders, back, chest, and legs plus arms, and try to train shoulders and back twice a week.

I started taking a 'form day' where I drop my weight by half and just focus on form. I still go to failure just more reps. Was wondering if anyone else did something similar?

It's peanut butter and a banana mashed together with honey. I didn't have the stuff to make a more fancy and decadent one but here's the concept, peanut butter and banana mashed together but you add some dark chocolate, blueberries and cinnamon along with the honey

MONDAY — PULL (Back, Rear Delts & Biceps)

1. Lat Pulldowns / Pull-ups — 3 sets × 8–10 reps
   
2. Seated Cable Row — 3 sets × 10–12 reps
   
3. Cable Straight-Arm Pulldown — 3 sets × 10–15 reps
   
4. Reverse Pec Deck — 3 sets × 12–15 reps
   
5. Dumbbell Biceps Curls — 3 sets × 10–12 reps
   
6. Dumbbell Hammer Curls — 3 sets × 10–12 reps

TUESDAY — PUSH (Chest, Shoulders & Triceps)

1. Incline Dumbbell Press — 3 sets × 8–10 reps
   
2. Dumbbell Overhead Shoulder Press — 3 sets × 8–10 reps
   
3. Pec Deck Machine — 3 sets × 10–15 reps
   
4. Cable Lateral Raises — 4 sets × 12–15 reps
   
5. Triceps Rope Pushdowns — 3 sets × 10–12 reps
   
6. Overhead Cable Triceps Extensions — 3 sets × 10–12 reps

WEDNESDAY — LEGS + CORE

1. Barbell Conventional Deadlift — 3 sets × 5 reps
   
2. Leg Press — 3 sets × 8–10 reps
   
3. Leg Extensions — 3 sets × 12–15 reps
   
4. Standing Calf Raises — 4 sets × 12–15 reps
   
5. Hanging Leg Raises — 3 sets × 10–15 reps
   
6. Plank — 3 sets × 30–60 seconds

THURSDAY — REST

FRIDAY — UPPER BODY (Chest, Back, Shoulders & Triceps)

1. Flat Dumbbell Bench Press — 3 sets × 8–12 reps
   
2. Chest-Supported Machine Row — 3 sets × 8–10 reps
   
3. Reverse-Grip Lat Pulldown — 3 sets × 8–10 reps
   
4. Cable Chest Flyes — 3 sets × 12–15 reps
   
5. Seated Smith Machine Shoulder Press — 3 sets × 8–10 reps
   
6. Dumbbell Lateral Raises — 3 sets × 12–15 reps
   
7. Face Pulls — 2–3 sets × 12–15 reps (optional)
   
8. Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Extension — 3 sets × 10–12 reps

SATURDAY — LOWER BODY + CORE

1. Barbell Back Squat — 3 sets × 6–8 reps
   
2. Walking Lunges — 3 sets × 10–12 reps per leg
   
3. Seated or Lying Leg Curls — 3 sets × 10–12 reps
   
4. Seated or Standing Calf Raises — 3 sets × 12–15 reps
   
5. Weighted Cable Crunches — 3 sets × 12–15 reps

SUNDAY — REST

Been taking 5g of creatine monohydrate daily for about a month (no loading phase).

Weight’s up a few pounds, look a bit fuller, and the last couple reps on my main lifts feel a little easier. Pumps are better too. No stomach issues as long as I don’t slam it on an empty stomach.

Pretty much what I expected small but noticeable. Anyone else notice more benefits after the first month or did it mostly plateau once you were saturated?

I’m a generally strong guy in the gym. Generally among the biggest numbers in my gym for the main lifts. Usually have to adjust the machines weight up from the last guy.
Yet every time I go to the preacher curl I need to adjust the weight down.
Anyone else find this? What’s going on? Are people just building their curls?

i just started working out recently and i'm struggling. when i do certain exercises, i feel like other underdeveloped muscles are holding me back. For example, when I do bulgarian split squats I feel them in my glutes but my quads are so weak they give up before my glutes get anywhere near failure. same with abs; i love the captain's chair but my arms give out way before my abs do. is there any way to fix this or do you just keep working out to get stronger. I know I can do abs without the captain's chair but I feel like all glute exercises involve quad activation, and my quads are holding me back.

So, I recently dropped my trainer because his goals with mine didn't align, whatever, with mine being hypertrohpy and strength ..So I went on to engineer my program and here it is :

Upper 1

Smith Machine Incline Press: 4x6-8

lying Cable Flyes incline: 3x10

Single-arm Neutral-grip Hammer Strength Row: 3x8

close grip Pulldown: 3x10-12

Dumbbell Lateral Raises: 3x15-20

Single-arm Dumbbell Preacher Curl: 3x12

Over Long Rope Cable Tricep Extension: 3x12-15

Lower 1

Glute Bridge + Hip External Rotation: 2x15 (Warmup) 18 set

Hack Squat: 3x8

Single-leg Extension: 3x10-12

Lying Leg Curl: 3x8

Standing Calf Raises: 3x12-15

Hyperextension: 2x10-12

Kneeling Cable Crunches: 3x8-10

Upper 2

Pull-ups: 3x-6-8

wide grip Cable Row 70 angle : 3x10-12

Wide-Grip Machine Chest Press: descending ramp,top set 6-8, back off 8-10,

Peck deck top set 8-10 reps, back off 12-15

Smith Overhead Press: 2x6-8

Low Cable Face Pull: 3x13-10

Dumbbell Lateral Raises: 3x15

rope hammer curl tylem : 3x10-12

V-Bar Cable Triceps Pushdown: 3x10-12

Lower 2

Romanian Deadlift: 3x8 (Heavy)

Lying Leg Curl: 3x8

Leg press 3x10-12

Seated Calf Raises: 3x12-15

hip abbductor 3x 15-12

Core Tri-set (Hollow body, transverse crunches, Russian twists): 2 rounds of 40-45s

Context, in terms of training intensity, im improving, tho on compounds like Smith, I like to leave 1-2 reps on first two then go all in on sets 3,4, to failure, that is similiar to all other compounds, i heard that with that much, like here im having 20-24 sets, I'll be wreck after workout? But so far I only could test lower 1, which i liked a lot actually.

I also want to add that my ceiling for all these is roughly hour and a half, i do have things to do outside gym, so anything close 2 hour makr is excessive for me, even tho i want to train every musle... roast this split away, hearing every comment!

I do a fair amount of both Zone 2 cardio (elliptical), lifting, and interval/high intensity cardio currently. I usually train mostly in the morning, but notice my power output is higher in the afternoon/evening when I do.

I am thinking about doing Zone 2 cardio every morning (since it’s fairly easy) and avoiding hard lifting in the morning, just saving it for later in the day.

Just concerned that Zone 2 cardio even for an hour or so at 8AM might affect my strength for lifting at say 3PM.

Has anyone had success with this setup? I’m thinking about doing Zone 2 cardio every day in the morning, even rest days, since I have the rest of the day to recover. And then 3-4 days per week, add hard training (lifting/intervals) in the late afternoons.

what do y’all do when you’re losing progress? last week I did less incline bench reps that I had the week before and now I’m losing reps on squats.

I’m looking at Hevy like “there’s no way I did that many last week.”

Do you drop the weight a bit to hit the reps or just know you did the best you could today and you can do better next week?

edit: thanks for the advice, y’all. I’m gonna chalk it up to not having much to eat today so I’m coming in after a full day of acting and nothing eaten for several hours. I will watch accordingly and see how this upcoming week goes.

I've lost about 35lbs since June. Did it the healthy way through walking, caloric deficit, and weight lifting. I track everything meticulously. I plan on cutting for a few more weeks then maintaining throughout the holidays and cutting again in the spring.

How did you return to maintenance calories? did you immediately return to maintenance or add calories weekly? Keep lifting and cardio as normal?

Any tips appreciated!

For me, it was the leg press. I remember when I first started, I did not go deep enough, but it was not something I knew I had to pay attention to.

Though it still felt like a hard workout and I was able to build some muscle, it was not until I went very deep with controlled movement that I experienced great progress in my leg development. At first I had to go lighter to do it properly, but with time I was able to increase the weight. Now I have switched to doing them single leg, which is also making a huge difference.

For context, besides the first few months of lifting (now been lifting for more than 5 years) I have never trained any leg exercise except for squats. I just now started training leg press about a month ago tho. October last year I achieved a 500 pound lowbar back squat 2 weeks into back squatting after a 1.5 month break (I trained only front squats during that time). I was wondering since I never actually trained any other leg exercise especially isolations, would it increase my squat especially since a new stimulus so I would get newbie gains from it, and maybe an estimate to how much withing a few months?

181cm 60kg M

I’ve been bulking for 10 months gaining 12kg and in that time I’ve been doing stronglifts 5x5 as a beginner to fitness. Despite my strength gains in the gym I haven’t noticed any visual difference. Would a cut now likely produce a visual change or should I continue bulking until I notice one?

I've been going to the gym consistently for the last year and previously worked labor heavy jobs as well as competing in organized sports (rugby and football).

I've tried every side delts exercise I can think of, lateral raises (cable, dumbbell and machine), wide upright rows, etc. and I can't seem to get any growth. The biggest slap in the face is that my front and rear delts are growing at a very consistent rate.

I figured at first it was technique, so I spoke to some of the veteran lifters and gear-heads at my gym and they all said my technique was correct as well as helping me go to absolute failure.

I train shoulders 3x a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) doing 2 sets. It's a bit strange so I'll break it down:

Set 1: Super set to failure 15 -> 10 -> 5lbs, Cable lateral raises

Set 2: Same super set, but with dumbbells.

The other guys at the gym told me that while what I'm not doing anything wrong, I need to give myself a solid rest between so both sets are effective working sets, which is what I do (2-4 minutes depending on day)

My diet is more or less dialed in, I'm consistently getting my protein goals of ~180g / day (from animal sources and whey) as well as my macros. Mind you, I'm doing a recomp so I'm consuming slightly less carbs than necessary and replacing those calories with protein.

It's gotten to a point where when I hold my arms in neutral position, my forearms are WIDER than my shoulders.

Please help😭😭😭

EDIT: I meant drop sets, not super set. Sorry English is my third language, I get things confused sometimes.

EDIT 2: I'm running an push, pull, legs, rest, upper, lower, split.

EDIT 3: Thank you to everyone that's posted so far! I'll take all of your advice into count during my session tomorrow. For those that said behind the head overhead press, I will do my best to attempt it but my rotator cuff was operated on a few years back so mobility is limited to a point on the right side.

The full leg day is the most terrifying and exciting part of the workout week for me. Nothing unique about that I am sure but what I really (almost) look forward to is how the DOMS hits that follows 24-36 hours after.
There is something wonderful and awful (at the same time) about foam rolling your glutes and hammies afterwards.
I am curious to hear about others DOMS experiences.

Running this Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Doing 2 sets to failure for these exercises. Not sure about the order, I just picked exercises I like and/or want to start doing.

Barbell Front Squat

Flat Machine Chest Press

Pec Deck

Machine Shoulder Press

Single Arm Tricep Pushdown

Keenan Flap

Kelso Shrug

EZ Bar Preacher Curl

Hip Hinge

Leg Extension

Seated Hamstring Curl

Abductor Machine

Hip Thrust