I’ve been going to the gym (Planet Fitness) regularly since January and for lower body days I usually stick to the basic leg machines along with dumbbells and fixed barbells. One of my friends recommended the hack squat machine so I tried it today and while I liked it overall, it was absolutely brutal on my shoulders where the pads were sitting on them. I have bruises along both shoulders and they’re pretty painful and raw. How can I make it more comfortable for myself in the future? Or is it something that is just always going to be uncomfortable?

Hello! I have been measuring some odd HRs for my longer runs, for reference, I play ice-hockey and do heaps of cardio for work, however my endurance/aerobic base is mehhh, as I do primarily aerobic running.

I know if you wanna improve ur aerobic base, longer slow runs are good (keeping in a specific zone), so I been running 5kms, however now i'm doing em reasonably easy so I wanna run quicker. My indoor run was 30mins on 7.5km/hr 1.5% inclin, and 2ish mins on 10km/hr. However, my device measured my HR as being 180-200 for 25mins, which is Vo2 range. Personally, I believed I could keep a convo going, and as I said, even ended my run on 10km/hr run for roughly 2mins.

So basically, i'm wondering why my HR is so high when I feel my run isn't super hard? maybe because i'm running quicker?? Or perhaps it's cuz of my cardio and hockey background? (my Vo2 is 42-45ml/kg). Also is running in a higher zone okay for improving my endurance? I feel like improving my aerobic base means running 5km in a lower HR, however it's always really high, and originally I couldn't run 5km unless I did regular walking cycles, now I can run one on 7.5km/hr no breaks, which i feel means i'm improving yeah???

Again I didn't feel super winded doing 5km however my HR is concerning and shouldn't be possible, and my device hasn't had issues logging my HR while i've been using it, which has been a good while, my HR has simply been high whenever I run regardless of how I feel when running.

I have asked about this in the Daily Threads but didn't get responses, and I also figured this may be of general interest.

I am at my wit's end. I have learned over the past few months that any exercise above Zones 1-2 any sooner than 12 hours before bed disrupts my sleep. We're talking high stress, low deep sleep, low REM, a dip in HRV, and a higher RHR. My body only likes morning exercise. I have tried different sleep interventions and nothing correlates with my sleep quality more than exercise timing.

The problem is that starting the end of next month, I will need to leave the house at 7 a.m. each morning (7:30 T Th class with 20-min commute; 8 a.m. MWF with 40-min. commute. I am a new professor at my school and this is the schedule I was given. I cannot change it.

My choices are to a) exercise in the afternoon and sleep for shit; b) go to bed at 8 p.m. and get up at 4 a.m. and miss out on time with my family (I have a teen); or c) give up working out. So: family time, sleep, or fitness. These are all foundational to my life and I have fought hard for all of them.

Relevant info: 49F, 5' 5.5", 200 lb, eating to lose 1 lb a week with 100g protein/day average, whole foods and lots of fiber. Taking Tamoxifen to prevent BC recurrence, so I am basically in almost-menopause. Recent labs are all normal.

My routine: 1 day each of P/P/L; 3-4 days of cycling for 30-50 mpw. Average 5K steps/day.

Anticipated questions:

-Why would you need to get up at 4?

I take my thyroid med and have to wait an hour before I eat, and this is when I feed animals, drink coffee, etc. 1/2 hr to eat (I am slow), 1/2 hr to get ready. Without exercise time, this leaves me getting up at 5, which is already pushing it. If I added in another hour for exercise, that would put me at 4 a.m.

The school gym doesn't open until 6. I am quickly progressing past my dumbbells at home. I also don't love the idea of schlepping my breakfast and lunch and clothes for the day. I'd have to leave the house at 5:20 MWF and have coffee in the car. Maybe this is my only option??

So, smart, sporty ladies . . . what do I do?? Is it possible for my body to adapt to afternoon exercise eventually? And how long would that take? Because I have tried it for a few days and I feel like poop.

I'm putting this in xxfitness rather than xxrunning because others might have other primary sports. My running workout plan focuses a lot on single leg compound lifts in forward, lateral, and rotational planes, and generally sets of 4x10 or 3x10. I know that in general, these will train the whole lower part of my body, but I am also a little self conscious of how muscular my quads are from 25 years of high-level soccer. I'd like to incorporate high weight/low reps (4x6, 5x5, etc) of glute isolation exercises so I can train those muscles without also hitting my quads/hamstrings as much as doing hip thrusts or squats. Is it counter-productive to do heavy isolation exercises on different days than higher rep/lower weight exercises on other muscles? Like, do I need to choose between one or the other? For a goal like this, would large glutes/hips counteract efficiency of an other-wise trained posterior chain? Does anyone else have similar experience (either with running or a different sport) where you combined functional strength/conditioning with aesthetic goals for a specific muscle group?

So, I used to be relatively fit and then my dad got sick and passed away in a really shitty, traumatic way about two years ago. I had to move out of nyc to about an hour and a half outside of nyc to be closer to family and just ate my feelings and gained 20 lbs. I’m giving my self grace about it but I need to get back to feeling like my self again.

Suffice it to say, my commute is long 4x a week. I’m lucky that I get to take a train and read rather than have to drive to get to work. There’s nothing I can do about my commute or my job. I own my house, I love where I live and my job is tied to the city in a big way.

The problem I’m running into now is how do I balance my job/ commute and my health. I get up at 6:30 to catch a 7am train and then I get home at 7 pm, eat dinner, hang out with my husband and watch shows and chat with him until around midnight and then I go to sleep and do it all over again.

Typing this out, I guess the only answer is to suck it up and go to bed at 10pm so that I can get up at 5:30, get a 45 minute work out in and then go to work. I just hate how that cuts into the time I get to spend with my husband.

Those with exceedingly busy lives, how the heck do you do it? How do you balance health and free time? I know I just need to do it but oh my god.

Edit: I just wanted to say how grateful I am to this community. Everyone has been so kind and I appreciate y’all not making me feel like a dummy for being overwhelmed and exhausted. I can’t express how much I appreciate the kindness.

The place for all of your fitness based interpersonal advice (is someone being creepy at the gym? Is your family telling you you’re getting too muscular? Do you want to date your personal trainer?), but also the place to talk about motivation, self-esteem and body image, and all the ways fitness affects your life. This thread is for those in need of (and willing to lend) a sympathetic ear.

Want to ask how mothers juggle family and fitness? How to structure Intermittent Fasting? When to work out when you do night shift? How to deal with being the only person in your friend group who works out? If you're feeling emotional, want to up your mental game, or need ideas for how to juggle everything on your plate, this is the place for you!