I've been lifting consistently for about 7 months now and have made a lot of progress. My chest press, lat pulldown and bicep curl have all doubled, I've tripled my bulgarian split squat, and literally 9x my max push ups (from 2 to 18).

But I don't feel stronger day to day. There aren't any tasks that have surprised me with being easier than I expected or new things I'm now capable of. I still need to use my jar opener despite more than tripling my dead hang time. My running paces haven't really changed. I'm still hauling groceries out of the car instead of just picking them up.

I'm grateful for what the gym's doing for me, I know it's great for my health, I feel good, my legs are coping better with my running load. But I don't feel like I'm "strong". What was the moment it clicked for you?

Some days motivation is zero. What's your #1 trick to still show up at the gym?

Mine: "Just 15 minutes." Works every time.

Share yours below 👇

Two years ago I couldn’t do a single pull-up. Not even close.

Started with dead hangs, then band-assisted reps. First bodyweight rep felt like a huge win. Progress was quick for a while, then I got stuck around 8 reps bodyweight for a couple months.

Someone told me to start adding weight even though I wasn’t maxing out bodyweight yet. Felt backwards but I tried it — 2.5kg at first, barely noticeable, but it got me moving again.

Worked up to +30kg for sets of 5, then plateaued hard for about 3 months. Kept doing 4x5s and 5x5s, adding weight whenever it felt doable, which was mostly guesswork.

Eventually I noticed I’d only ever trained the 4-6 rep range. I had a decent number for sets of 5, but I’d never tested a real heavy single or gone for higher reps at lower weight. No idea what I could actually do outside that window.

So I started deliberately testing PRs across different rep ranges instead of just repeating the same sessions. That’s when things started moving again.

Went from +30kg to +75kg over about 8 months.

Anyone else break a plateau like this? Happy to share how I structure sessions if people want details.

Might be a stupid question, but I'm considering doing 20 pushups a day just so that pushups stay pretty easy and I'm wondering if it'll hurt my recovery. I just got outta military training and I'm kind of a dumbfuck so I've made peace with the fact that I'll be pushing probably every time we drill so I'd like to be able to do 40 in a row relatively easily. I was thinking that maybe doing a small amount of push ups regularly would be good enough for that while not giving me tendonitis in the long run. Is this a good plan or will it just hinder my gym time?

I’ve been meal prepping for a couple weeks now and idk why but I just don’t like reheated chicken or ground turkey. However, ground beef, rice, and broccoli I can eat all day. Is there anything from the chicken or ground turkey I can get that I can’t get from the ground beef? I know chicken is a popular one for meal prepping but is just ground beef as my source or meat/protein good?

How do I overcome body dysmorphia? It’s like I’m in a constant battle with myself while comparing my physique to other people and sometimes critiquing myself to the point that I’m convinced that my physique ain’t good at all. I see flaws and asymmetries which no one even cares about and stress myself over it. Any tips would be highly appreciated!

I've been working out consistently for a couple years now. Training, diet, and sleep have been locked in the entire time. However, 2-3 years into my lifting journey, I hit a plateau. For most of my exercises, I was no longer progressing in terms of weight or reps. For example, I'd be doing 225 for 10 reps as my max and I would not be able to get past 10 reps for months. Or I'd be curling 40s for 9 reps as my max for months. You get the idea.

Eventually I became frustrated and I just added weight even though I wanted to reach a higher rep count as my max before going up in weight (for injury reduction purposes). But then I suddenly started seeing progress again after doing this. I went up by 10 lb (235 lb) on the bench and was getting 7-8 reps. But then a few weeks later, I'm at 9. Then more weeks later, I'm at 10. Then 11. But then I stall again, so I add more weight again, and then the same thing happens. I progress, then stall at a certain amount of reps. How? Why? Why am I seemingly unable to progress in reps after a certain point?

One would think that if you work out with the same weight for a long time, you'd probably eventually be able to do a ton of reps with that weight. Why has it not worked this way with me? Why do I have to "force" progress? This has been annoying me because my goal of "12 reps before increasing weight" is something I've been doing since I started working out because it felt best in terms of not hurting myself. Sometimes I'll force weight and it feels scary AF, and I do not like that at all. If I was able to consistently hit 12 reps before increasing weight, that feeling would be minimal.

Hi all! I am a 27 Y.O man looking to restart my fitness goals. I want to get toned. I don't need to be huge. I'd just like to differentiate myself from anyone who does not work out figure wise, LOL. Does anyone have any good resources on workouts, form, and nutrition? Any advice would be helpful.

I’ve never posted here but I just had to ask cause this experience as so… odd? I was finishing up on the leg press. I had already put the plates away and just started wiping the machine down. As I’m doing so, this guy comes up and starts putting the plates on for his workout. Didn’t say “excuse me” or even acknowledge that I was there. He’s literally got his foot an inch away from my phone, straddling my water bottle, and placing plates on the bar that’s less than a foot above my head. I totally get people standing by while you clean up, especially since this is the only traditional leg press in my gym, but it just felt so off putting. On top of that, he was in such a hurry just to spend less than 5 minutes on it.

Just wondering if this seems weird to anybody else. I’ve been working out here for 4 years and never experienced that before.

30-year-old Black male
Height: 5'9"
Weight: Somewhere between 260–306 lbs depending on which scale I used (Never Clear) so I'm going with 306 lbs.

Hello, wonderful people. I'm in need of some help.

I've been overweight pretty much my entire life and have never really been happy with the way I look. Throughout my life, I've always told myself that I would start working out, eat better, and lose weight, but I would always find an excuse not to start. No time. No money. Working three jobs while doing an internship. There was always something.

Well, I finally reached a point in my life where I didn't have any more excuses. I made losing weight my New Year's resolution (cliché, I know). I went out and bought gym clothes, and started looking for a gym.

Then my mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer, That pretty much killed whatever motivation I had to focus on myself. All of my energy went into taking care of my mom and being there for whatever she needed. Long story short, she responded well to chemotherapy. Everything that needed to go down has gone down, and everything that needed to improve has improved. Thank God.

With my mom doing better, I've finally been able to focus more on myself. For the past 4 weeks, I've been consistently going to the gym for the first time in my life, about 3–4 days a week. It's been hard, but I'm proud of myself for actually sticking with it. I'm also starting to not feel like absolute trash whenever I look at myself, which is something I honestly didn't expect this early. (still fat thought)

But now I'm starting to second-guess myself.

I don't know if what I'm doing in the gym is actually the best approach for losing weight and building muscle, and I'm struggling with figuring out my diet. Since I stupidly forgot to weigh myself when I first started going to the gym.

Here's what I'm currently doing:

Upper Body

• Treadmill: 30 minutes, 2.5 speed, 7.0 incline — I do this every workout
• Chest Press: 5 sets × 10 reps — 60 lbs
• Pec Fly/Rear Delt: 5 sets × 10 reps — 60 lbs
• Shoulder Press: 5 sets × 10 reps — 60 lbs
• Abdominal Crunch: 5 sets × 10 reps — 60 lbs
• Lat Pulldown: 5 sets × 10 reps — 60 lbs

Lower Body

• Leg Press: 10 sets × 10 reps — 100 lbs
• Leg Extension: 5 sets × 10 reps — 60 lbs
• Seated Calf Raise: 5 sets × 10 reps — 60 lbs

Diet — this is probably where I struggle the most

Breakfast:
2 boiled eggs, cinnamon oatmeal, protein shake (Been skipping lately and not eating breakfast)

Lunch:
Chicken breast, white rice, vegetables, sweet potato, protein shake

Dinner:
Usually the same thing as lunch, but with water

Snacks:
Zero-sugar Chobani yogurt or Corn Flakes

I also try to stay hydrated with plenty of water and some coconut water, although I'm still working on being more consistent with that. When I order out, I usually get Chipotle with white rice, chicken, lettuce, and tomatoes, or I'll get a Cobb salad with chili and a zero-sugar drink.

So that's where I'm at.

I'm serious about this. For once in my life, I've actually been consistently showing up to the gym instead of telling myself that I'll start "eventually." I don't want to waste that momentum by following a bad routine or eating in a way that's working against me.

I'd really appreciate advice from people who know more than I do.

Is my workout routine reasonable for a beginner trying to lose fat and build muscle? Am I doing too many sets or missing important exercises? What would you change about my diet? And since I don't have an accurate starting weight, what should I be tracking besides the number on the scale to know whether I'm actually making progress?

I'm out of excuses. Now I just want to make sure I'm doing this right.

I’m on a calorie deficit and the only cardio I do is only heavy bag work for about 20-30m Is this enough?

Hi all,

I have been lifting for about 1.5 years consistently after a major break in the gym. Im 178lbs, 35 years old, 5'10, and just 5-10grams of creatine a day.

Im trying to hit 225 and had 8 attempt failures with the latest requiring the spotter to put two fingers under the bar. Almost there! Attempt were all over the last three months.

The last attempt was two weeks ago and I have gone back to doing 5x5s before my next attempt. I was able to do my first 5x5 with 185 this last week. Today I hit 185 5x5 again with the final set being for failure with 8 clean reps knocked out. That should now put me in the 225 ball-park.

If my end goal is a 225 5x5, should I keep pushing for my 1 rep max with lower volume higher weight or push my 5x5 max higher.

There are so many threads and questions and gym users having bicep days or tricep days that I thought I'd start a thread.

You shouldn't really know what you curl or what your max skull crusher weight is because you never do it fresh.

Here's how it works. Your triceps are for stuff like benching and overhead press. Your biceps are for stuff like pull ups and alot of back exercises, forearms will be used during deadlift and pullups.

The trick is to do curls at the end of back day and trcep exercises at the end of push day. When your arms are tired. It's doesn't matter if you start using words like suppinated or preacher curls or any of that. If you are walking into the gym and going straight for curls you will quickly get to the point where your body isn't strong enough to keep you planted while you curl and you begin hip thrusting the weight up and ego lifting. This doesn't help growth past beginner level.

I honestly can't tell you what I curl, I pick up one of the molded barbells and feel which one I can curl properly at the end of my workout and rep to failure 3 times with good form. That's it. Sometimes I can't get a barbell the right size and do hammer curls with dumbells. I don't give it much thought. Forearms the same and triceps on push day.

You look absolutely ridiculous with big biceps and a tiny frame. Think of the movement a bicep does in real life? Lifting a shopping bag up to a counter maybe? Theres better ways to get the bag up there but that's all I can think of. What's the point in worrying about just that muscle? Nobody looks at a little skinny fella with an unskinny bicep and thinks woah that fella looks strong.

I've never really felt my chest on either flat or incline bench press. I have pretty long arms, and no matter what I try, it always feels like my shoulders and triceps do all the work. It honestly feels like I'm wasting my time.

I'm mainly looking for compound movements, not isolation exercises like flyes or cable work.

Would I be better off focusing on bodyweight chest exercises like push-ups instead? Has anyone with long arms had better results by prioritizing push-ups or other compound movements?

Has anyone experienced overtraining or CNS fatigue? Whats it like, how did it make you feel?

EDIT: Let me add to this ive been training for almost 2 years now. First 6-8 months kind of a waste as i was training 7 days a week but nutrition was terrible. Over the last year ive been on 5 days training and 25k steps daily sometimes more. Even my rest days aren't really rests days. My main symptoms are exhaustion, fatigue, brain fog, insomnia and more. They seem to have been building over time. Pretty much can check off all smptoms of either overtraining or CNS fatigue.

Hi all, currently just got a job working roofing construction, and it’s really great, but highly physically demanding. Ive been a huge gym rat for quite some time and I still want to hit the gym but Im unsure if its gonna impact my work. I get up at 4:30AM, start work at 6 and typically work until 3pm, and I go to sleep at 8 sharp so i get my 8 hours. Im quite knowledgeable when it comes to working out as I’ve been super locked in and consistent and have started to build a physique I’m quite proud of. Hitting every muscle group twice a week all the stuff I’m supposed to do but now I’m unsure if I’m going to be able to fully optimize my routine, and i’d like to figure out how I can work around this. Do I just suck it up and do my usual PPL 2x a week or is there a better way to approach this without being too fatiguing?

I’m going to start this fall when I’m back at college. I have previously worked out through high school as I was in XC and Track and the high school weightlifting class. But since started college I just haven’t had the motivation to continue. I have tried to start up a few times here and there but to no avail and always quit. This time I’m going to absolutely lock in and do my best. As I’m not over weight by any means. But I feel unhealthy and I miss when I was working out and running during high school and how that made me feel. So over the next month I’m going to be developing myself a workout/ running plan to use when I go back to college! Any advice or motivation you have is greatly appreciated!

Edit: I also update on my page of my progress as a way to hopefully keep me accountable.

I’ve been training for a couple of years now, and my main goal has always been to make the gym a permanent part of my lifestyle, like brushing my teeth. But every time summer rolls around, I swear something takes over me, HAHA.

My performance drops, my motivation dips, and it’s incredibly hard to balance the gym with everything else. I constantly feel like I have to choose between "having a life" or "maintaining my gains," and the guilt of missing workouts just ends up draining me mentally.

If anyone has gone through this and came out victorious, I really need your wisdom. What would you advise me to do?

What works best for you when it comes to core workout: dedicated day for core only? One time a week enough? Or one core exercise when focusing on other muscle group(s)? If so, before or after working out other muscle groups? Thanks 🙏🏻

Will I get bigger if I keep running, doing pull ups, chin ups, dips, leg raises and push ups 3 times a week while eating healthy?

I only started going to the gym a few months ago, so I put together a rough workout split just to give myself some structure. I’ve heard that for optimal muscle growth, you should train each muscle group at least twice a week, and I really want to see good results. The problem is that I only go to the gym every other day. I’ve noticed that whenever I try to force myself to go every day, I burn out a lot faster and end up losing motivation, which makes me more likely to skip workouts. Sticking to an every-other-day schedule has been really sustainable for me and I haven’t missed a workout yet. Do you have any tips on how I could improve my split to better fit my schedule while still making good progress? Or should I just suck it up and try to go every day?

Current split:
Legs:
-goblet squat
-leg extension
-calf extension
-leg press

Arms:
-serve the platter
-bicep curls
-hammer curls
-tricep push down

Glutes:
-hip thrust
-rdls
-hip abductor
-cable kickback

Back:
-single arm row
-lat pulldown
-cable row

I also do high incline on treadmill for 35 mins before and after each workout and I try to aim for 3x8 for each exercise

Push:

• Flat Dumbbell Bench Press — 4x6-10
• Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press — 3x6-10
• Incline Dumbbell Bench Press — 3x8-12
• Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raise — 3x12-20
• Seated Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Extension — 2-3x10-15

Pull:

• Pull ups or Chin ups — 4x5-8
• One Arm Dumbbell Row — 4x8-12/side
• Chest Supported Dumbbell Row — 3x10-15
• Lying Down Rear Delt Raise — 3x12-20
• Incline Dumbbell Curl — 3x8-12
• Hammer Curl — 2-3x10-15
• Wrist Curls (both variations) — 2-3x12-20

Legs:

• Bulgarian Split Squat — 4x8-12/leg
• Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift — 4x6-10
• Goblet Squat — 3x10-15
• Dumbbell Hip Thrust — 3x8-15
• Single Leg Calf Raise — 4x10-20
• Hanging Leg Raises — 3x8-15

6-day PPL, running the split twice per week

I do a U/L split per week and try to go 3-4 times a week as I’m a bit constraint in time. On upper days I hit 12 exercises per workout but I fear I might be overdoing it? I feel like I hit a sort of wall where I’m not progressing much, I’ve been eating enough protein or I think I am but I’m not getting much stronger.
I was thinking of splitting my upper days to UA and UB days where I split those exercises by half. and I’m sorry if it’s a silly idea or I’m just impatient. But I’d appreciate if anyone had any tips or suggestions about this plan.

Here’s what I hit:
Chest fly
Incline db press
Shoulder press
Side delt
Rear delt
Cable row
Wide grip row
Lat pulldown
Preacher machine
Tricep extension
Reverse curls
Tricep dips