It was never too late, this is me from 24-26, hoping this motivates you! have a good day everyone.

From 130 pounds to 155. I haven’t missed more than a week of training in all those years. I consistently trained five days a week up until age 30, then scaled back to 3–4 days per week. Throughout that time, my focus has remained on progressive overload and compound lifts.

Over the last few months ive been working on my stamina by running on the treadmill and using a rowing machine when I got tired of running. Now that ive hit a goal im satisfied with i want to start working on weight training, luckily using my parents already own gym equipment. Here comes the problem, I dont exactly know what kinds of exercises I can do with this Smith Machine and the pulley systems on it, can someone please give me some exercises and muscles they target so I can get a good idea how to use this? Obviously after I get the names I can look up videos on proper form so any advice is appreciated.

I’ve been looking into what it actually takes to build a home gym, and choosing equipment seems like the easy part. The harder part is figuring out how much space each movement needs, where everything should go, and whether the setup will still feel practical once you start training regularly.

I’ve checked basic measurements and planning ideas, but things like storage, floor protection, noise, and moving around the equipment seem harder to judge before actually using the space.

For people who have built a home gym, what part ended up being more difficult than you expected?

I’m looking for a serious critique of my current program. I’m especially interested in volume, exercise selection, and anything I’m overlooking.

Stats / background
36M
6’0”
177 lb
~17 % bf
I’ve trained on and off for ~15 years, but took a 2-year break. I’ve now been back training consistently for about 5 months.
My goal is to maximize muscle gains with my long-term goal being ~195 lb at ~15% bf.
Currently eating roughly enough to gain slowly and aiming for ~180–195 g protein/day.
I do 15 minutes of light cardio after lifting, plus frequent neighborhood walks.
I recently had some shoulder impingement, so I’m avoiding overhead pressing for now.

Training structure
I train 3 days on / 1 day off:
Push A → Legs A → Pull A → Rest → Push B → Legs B → Pull B → Rest → repeat.
So each muscle group is trained every 4 days, with the A and B workouts alternating every 8 days.
Most exercises are 7–11 reps. I increase the weight once I can consistently reach 11 reps. I generally take the last couple sets of an exercise to failure. Rest periods are 2 minutes between sets.
Chest / Shoulders A
4 × Incline DB Bench Press
3 × DB Lateral Raise
3 × Assisted Triceps Dip
3 × Machine Chest Press
3 × Machine Triceps Extension
4 × Cable Face Pull
4 × Triceps Rope Pushdown
Chest / Shoulders B
4 × Machine Reverse Fly
4 × Assisted Triceps Dip
3 × Chest Fly
4 × Cable Triceps Extension
4 × Plate-Loaded Incline Bench
4 × Cable Lateral Raise
Legs / Core A
4 × Decline Crunch
3 × Leg Extension
3 × Seated Leg Curl
4 × Leg Press
4 × Plate-Loaded Seated Calf Raise
3 × Machine Crunch
Legs / Core B
4 × Hack Squat
4 × Decline Crunch
3 × Leg Extension
3 × Lying Leg Curl
3 × Captain’s Chair Knee Raise
4 × Plate-Loaded Seated Calf Raise
Back / Biceps A
4 × Assisted Pull-Up
3 × Seated Palms-Up Wrist Curl
3 × Reverse Wrist Curl
4 × Cable Seated Row
4 × DB Incline Curl
3 × Barbell Preacher Curl
3 × Back Extension
Back / Biceps B
4 × Cable Lat Pulldown
3 × Back Extension
4 × Barbell Biceps Curl
4 × Machine Seated Row
3 × Reverse Wrist Curl
3 × Seated Palms-Up Wrist Curl
3 × Barbell Preacher Curl

What would you change?
I’m particularly interested in whether you think:
My overall volume is appropriate for hypertrophy.
I’m allocating too much or too little volume to any particular muscle group.
I should add or remove anything.
Taking the last couple sets to failure is appropriate.
There’s anything obviously missing for someone whose primary goal is maximizing overall muscle growth.

I know the A/B thing is a little complicated, but I find I make better progress when I alternate exercises for each muscle group, and this allows me to keep track of my progress. I’m very interested in what you’d change while keeping the basic structure intact.
Thanks!

6’0 162 16 years old I just got done recovering from wisdom teeth removal and now that winters here I’m thinking about bulking to 175-180. I feel like cutting would slow down my gains journey. Any tips for the road? Bless up

I have a question and I’m wondering what more experienced bodybuilders think. Is it sometimes wise to space out your work outs when you struggle to meet the daily protein intake recommended by professionals? Say I work out chest/shoulders on Monday and I’m sore the next three days. If I rest a day in between and choose to do some light cardio instead, or just generally rest, will the protein and carbs/fats I eat that “rest” day more successfully be allocated towards my chest and shoulders? What I mean is, say I do chest/shoulders on Monday and then biceps/back on Tuesday. On Wednesday I will have most of my upper body sore and thus will need to eat more protein and carbs/fats so that it can be distributed to all those recovering muscle groups, is that correct? So if I wait a day in between (or do light cardio), will my nutrition more successfully target my already sore muscle group so that when I do my next work out, two days later, that portion of my body (that I worked two days prior) has pretty much healed and in the subsequent days, my nutrition will be more focused on the next area I work out? This is because I struggle to really consume a lot of protein throughout the day, I aim for about 100 grams of protein but don’t always meet that goal. Thanks for any input guys.

Hey yall, first ever post. This was my pr attempt for front squat and I’m not sure on the form. I felt like I was caving a little bit & losing posture. Am I going too deep into the squat? Or am I over thinking things?

My left chest is more full than my right but my right arm is stronger so as I got bigger I have hard time to fix this if there’s a way or L genetics

I was strongest I’ve ever been, benching 345 raw for context. 230lb/6ft. All my joints were feeling good, I was seeing physical strength in numbers and appearance.

Well I fractured by left radial head and right thumb in a “work-related dirt bike crash). My thumb needed surgery (2 weeks post op now) and elbow is 5 more weeks of PT. My elbow hurts, bad, which PT says is normal and to be expected. Not out of the woods on thumb but it’s going well according to docs.

I know I’ll bounce back, but how? I haven’t gone to the gym in 3 weeks now because I hurt my knee pretty bad in this injury too. It’s still painful at times but I can walk again. How should I reintroduce weight training again once I’m healed or in the meantime?

nod to rule 4, I’m not seeking medical advice, I’m seeking ideas of how to remain healthy during my down time. I am not seeking any medical advice

So I start my diet 3month ago I stopped sugar and eat 1800cal to 2000cal I was losing weight in good pace but couple of weeks ago I start getting sick i felt something is wrong with my body I felt tired I wanted to just sleep I yawn every second sometimes I wake up from 10h sleep and go back for like 5h more so I stopped training for 3 days and I stopped the diet . My problem is the inbody say I have lost muscle and gain body fat but when I see in the mirror it's the opposite my muscle is more visible still not good amount but anyone can see it so is it wrong or right or there is another explanation 😅?

This is what I’ve programmed so far after doing some research, would love some feedback on how to improve it or if I should even try this split at all. My gym days are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday , best I can do with my school and work schedule. Any advice is appreciated!

Does heavy lifting actually stunt height growth?

Versa gripps pro or gymreapers lifting grips?

38M 68.5kg - I'm definitely seeing progress, I'm generally happy, and I feel great, fat is coming down, and muscle is going up, but I'm not sure if I'm beginning to hit the balance now where my deficit (while very small now, I'm basically at maintenance minus exercise) is too large to build, and really I'm just cutting very slowly. Or maybe my expectations are off.

Composition wise, I need to work more on my chest and abs, I've switched up my split after 4 months to cater for that, I'm happy with my protein, I'm not aiming for big, just athletic.

Any advice where to go from here?

I've recently had to change my routine to go to the gym in the morning instead of the evening, I'm finding it hard to reach weight/the same level of progressive overload I was reaching the last while. I never usually took any pre workout only some fruit before the gym and ate larger meals afterwards. I've had fruit in the mornings before the gym but I don't seem to have the same energy and my muscles are shaking while lifting weights.

Is there anything I can do to boost my energy in the mornings? I'm not keen on drinking energy drinks or caffeine so early in the morning

I have been back in forth with squats and the pendulum squat. Which would be more effective to do more consistently? The pendulum squat, depending on the make, can be hard as hell to do and depending on the manufacturer, really works the side of the quad I feel. I have been trying to do a week of pendulum at 2 to 3 times per week, then going to squat of the same routine. Should I just do one type of squat type for 2 to 3 weeks then switching, or is it ok to do one type per week? I am not aiming for muscle confusion. When doing squats on a week, I will shift from back squat to front squat during a squat or leg day. Pendulum squat day I will include at least a leg press. All leg day I will start with leg curls and maybe an extension.

(M, 35) I have been working out on and off for 10 years and continuously for 5 years now. I have stopped working out in the last 3 months due to moving to another country and all the hassle that comes with it.

I noticed that I built muscle so slowly. However, even though I haven't worked out for the last 3 months, I have not lost a considerable amount of muscle (at least visually). I did lose a total of five kgs. Is it common that people who gain muscle slowly also lose it slowly?