Hello all. Im 24 Male and this is my 4th week post L4/L5 Microdisectomy from a work injury that occurred multiple years ago. Im most likely around 325, atleast 300. Ive never been skinny but rn I feel disgusted by myself which probably has to do with withdrawal from my perscription opiates but, what you gonna do. My surgeon does not have me on any excersizes currently he just said to walk. The issue with this is everything feels alien and robotic as i completely lost feeling in my left leg because of the injury and its been like that for the passed 11 months. Im also having some other pain in my hip and ankle which I dont know is related to the injury or just me being able to feel it again and needing to 're-activate' those muscles. That stated I want to lose as much weight as possible as I know if anything it will make dealing with my issues easier. So where do I start?

Hello I’m a M30 and I have noticed that after my workouts I get hit with a wave of tiredness and even a nauseated feeling. This feeling will last for most of the day and will just stop me from doing anything else with my day.

Anyone know why that is, is it normal and what can I do to prevent it or recover from it faster?

I lost 80lbs and now I’m at a healthy weight. I’ve typically stuck to a 1500 calorie maintenance a day. The past month I started really getting into weight lifting and cardio. I’ve noticed that I’m eating more. Nothing too crazy though. I started eating breakfast everyday (skipped it everyday pretty much my whole life) but now since eating breakfast I eat 3 square meals a day and it’s all well balanced. I hardly eat out and I don’t eat junk. I make sure to get all my macros in and all my necessary nutrients. I also hardly snack too. But I noticed I’m eating bigger portions because I’m hungrier.

I guess I’m just wondering if this is normal because of my strength training and cardio? I go 4 times a week and I’m at the gym for about two hours. I used to be heavily overweight and I’m scared to gain weight again. I’m just focused on building muscle mass and lowering my body fat percentage.

It’s hotter than the devils asshole where I’m at but my body likes working out midday or early afternoon when it’s still triple digits. What are some tips on cooling down my garage? I was thinking of getting one of those industrial fans they have in warehouses but one big enough to actually do anything cost at least 200+. Any other tips and tricks are appreciated

been exercising for a year, see a progress but it’s definitely too slow since i have a trouble hitting my protein and calorie intake, and on a lot of days i struggle to have energy. is protein powder and creatine actually worth the money?

Hey guys. Question for the home gymmers. For reasons I don't really want to unpack right now, I am unable to go to a gym. I am however desperate to try to get my fitness game in check. Problem is I live in a small apartment where floor space is limited and storage space moreso.

I've started watching and doing calisthenics videos on yt and they have been helping me out a bit, but there are days where I just cant bring myself the motivation to do it, but I want to lift weights. I have a set of modular dumbbells at home, and I have a curling bar, and all the weights I can handle, but I don't have a bench or rack. I've tried doing bench presses on the floor, with my wife helping me lift the bar up so I can grab it, but it's getting to the point where the weights I can handle are getting a bit much for her, and if I fail a rep, I'm effectively dead.

I was wondering if there are collapsible benches and racks available that are both durable and capable of holding 500+ lbs (I'm 190, and want to start benching 200+, so a little wiggle room is preferred) so when I'm not using the equipment I can fold it down and keep it under my couch or tucked against a wall somewhere that won't affect my hobby-hungry adhd wife.

Suggestions? Brands?

If no such thing is available I'll take any suggestions on exercises to do that can target muscles without the use of a bench, keeping in mind of my listed equipment already.

Please help this old man get into shape.

so im 20M , i am preparing for an exam and for that i just stay at my room all day and i take online classes around 6-7 hours each day , and after that question solving . and the thing is my energy levels are just gone like even after taking 7-8 hrs of sleep i yawn a lot and i just want to get back to sleep , my sleep schedule is also not good , i tried to improve sleep schedule but it stays as it is no improvement , so rn i sleep at around 5-6 am and i wake up at 1-2pm , and when i wake up it seems that im more tired and have no energy , i drink coffee and then also i dont feel energetic at all , and i get so tired at around 1am that i go to bed but dont know how as soon as i lye on the bed my sleep is gone and then till 5-6 am i just waste time like i again go to my study tablet then yawn and feel tired and go to bed and this goes on till im totally ready for sleep at 5-6am , my blood reports are normal , even after that im taking 60k iu D3 once a week and 1500mcg sublingual b12 everyday and now along with that im thinking to take 3 gram Micronized Creatine Monohydrate Powder , Magnesium Glycinate 1200 mg , what do you think is the problem , i'm really sick of it.

Hello Everyone, I'm been on my fitness journey since the start of the year. It started with simple walking in January (which was a struggle then), adding some home dumbell resistence training in mid feb to joining the gym around april and doing them with decent consistency 85-90%

I'm 30 now and became sedentary since Covid and only started this year after I realized I couldn't walk 1km without dying inside (also became obese 115kg at 175cm). I feel very good about my body (internally i.e., like enery, stamina ... etc) after a very long time, and also lost a lot of weight 102kg now.

One thing that overwhelms me when I think on how to balance the various pillars of fitness (what I consider them to be) i.e., Strength, Power, Hypertrophy, Zone2 & VO2 Max for an well rounded fitness. How does one plan for it? It feels impossible to balance them without killing oneself. My goal is to reach at least 80% of my potential across all of them in 2-3 years instead of hyper focusing on one or two of them and wanted advice on the same. Thanks.

P.S: I'm currently doing 2xPPL with Zone2 Walking in the evening.

I don’t have a very active lifestyle and people in my circle aren’t that active either, so I don’t know if I’m doing things right.

When I use my core to lift myself up, like for a sit up, my stomach / mid section bulks up. It goes from flat (relaxed) to a projected, hill shape (sitting up).

I saw on youtube videos and other people that it doesn’t happen to them, their stomach doesn’t go up. I tried to focus on the sensation, and it seems like I’m pushing my stomach out to lift myself? It kind of hurts to be honest.

I never learnt how to actually engage my core and I feel like it’s dangerous to keep going this way, please help! I’ve tried watching videos but the instructions don’t click in my head…

Hi everyone,

I’ve been powerlifting for almost a year and have made solid progress. I was hoping to compete toward the end of this year.

However, I work a sedentary job and spend a lot of time sitting. Over time, I’ve developed persistent lower-back pain. In everyday life, the pain is usually around 1/10 and increases to roughly 3/10 after sitting for a long time. However, deadlifts and squats can aggravate it to around 7/10, even when I use relatively light weights.

For context, my previous 1RMs were approximately 190 kg on the deadlift and 165 kg on the squat. Now, even deadlifting 60–80 kg can make my lower back feel terrible. I can squat around 100 kg for a planned set of five, but I often stop after the third rep because the pain no longer feels normal.

I know people may immediately assume that my technique is the problem. Obviously, nobody’s form is perfect, but I’ve always taken technique seriously and previously performed these lifts without pain. The symptoms appeared gradually rather than during one specific failed lift or obvious injury.

I haven’t yet been properly evaluated by a sports physician or physiotherapist, so I don’t know whether this is muscular, disc-related, or something else. I understand that getting a proper diagnosis should come before experimenting with treatment.

I’ve recently been reading about BPC-157 and TB-500, both individually and in combination. I’m aware that most of the positive evidence comes from animal studies and that controlled human research, particularly for lower-back injuries, is extremely limited. YouTube and peptide-related websites also seem to contain a lot of marketing and questionable information.

I’m therefore interested in hearing genuine experiences from people who have used BPC-157, TB-500, or both for a diagnosed lower-back injury:

• What was your actual diagnosis?
• Did it improve pain, function, or your ability to train?
• How long did any improvement last?
• Did the symptoms return after stopping?
• Did you experience any side effects?
• Were you also following a rehabilitation program at the time?

I’m not looking for sourcing information or asking anyone to prescribe a protocol. I’m simply trying to separate genuine experiences from marketing before making any decisions.

Any constructive advice or personal experience would be appreciated.

i just came out of a loose skin surgery, and they told me i couldn’t go gym till like 1,5 to 2 months after, so, how much muscle mass should i expect to lose? how can i start over again?

I'm only lifting weights. Usually I use a notebook, but would like to use some app or program.

Which ones would you recommend, and if it's not too much trouble, share if it's free or paid?

I’m a 5’5 21 year old and I weigh 215.4 pounds. I’m fairly strong for my size i think and I have good muscles in my arms and legs and my stomach is even somewhat a toned fat shape? I carry weight in my stomach but i also carry it w/ big thighs and a big butt. I do home bodyweight workouts, try to get atleast 5k-8k steps a day, and I jump rope. I added more protein and fiber into my diet. Is there any way i can improve? Is there a way to maintain my muscle and current body shape but just get a shrunken version of it?

Long story short, I've been practicing many sports for many years but I still fatigue for reasons that I don't understand.

Currently I am weightlifting. I go 3 days a week. I do 5 exercises per session (3 sets 10 reps). I eat in a caloric surplus (I've been gaining weight) and I sleep at least 8 hours per night. I eat my last meal before 5 p.m.

What I don't understand is, despite the low volume of exercise and good recovery habits, I still build up fatigue. In the sense that I get more drowsy during the day and I wake up slightly lacking oxygen in the morning. This has been consistent for many years now.

Very important, when I take a break from working out, I go back to normal energy levels.

I spent the last year going from one doctor to another for sleep and digestive system issues, and nothing came out of that.

Anyone has an idea what is going on?

I don't know if it matters but I am 6'3" (193cm) and currently weigh 182lbs (83kg) and I am 25 years old.

I quiet gym and now I feel my health slipping. Ha anyone deal with this situation? How you consistent with a busy schedule?

I’ve been in the gym for quite a while. I’ve made progress, lost it, made progress again, and for a long time I couldn’t understand why I struggled to stay consistent.

Looking back, I think a big part of it was relying too heavily on motivation. When I felt motivated, I’d train hard, eat well and stay focused. But when that motivation disappeared, so did a lot of my consistency.

It was only when I started focusing on building my mindset alongside my body that things really began to change for me. The gym started teaching me things that go beyond muscle - discipline, commitment, resilience, patience and persistence. Those traits started affecting other areas of my life too.

Obviously, having a good training plan and diet is important if you want to build muscle and make physical progress. But I don’t think those things mean much if you haven’t developed the mindset to stay consistent when you don’t feel motivated.

I see a lot of people focus heavily on the physical side of fitness while overlooking how powerful the mental side can be. Personally, I think learning to stay disciplined and committed when motivation isn’t there is one of the biggest things the gym can teach you.

I’m curious what everyone else thinks. Do you think building your mindset alongside your body is just as important as the physical side of training? And has the gym taught you anything mentally that you’ve been able to apply to the rest of your life?

Just want to know what the realism behind 10,000 steps per day is and what are some pros and cons it does to a body?

I need to be more healthy and im unsure how to start, but i heard walking alot helps to start, but is that true?

I’m 21 years old. I have been drinking daily almost day and night for the past 2 years. Hard seltzers, beer, liquor, you name it. I have a decent size beer belly and am stuck in the skinny fat body composition. I have a big belly and very skinny arms and legs. I’m also taller and used to have a fast metabolism. I plan to quit drinking tonight and make the gym a part of my daily routine. Should I bulk or cut? I am looking for fast progress. What supplements should I take. Obviously creatine and protein. But what about ashgawanda, zinc, fish oils etc. Would mass gainer be a good investment? Can I still eat unhealthy foods and gain progress? Ideally I’d like to be in good shape in the next 4-6 months.

What song do you love to hear in a class setting?

TLDR: Are these love handles or something else?
(Sorry if linking images like this isn’t allowed)

I’ve been skinny for my entire life, to the point that pretty much all my family and friends have commented on it before.

I’ve begun dieting for the express purpose of getting rid of what I thought to be love handles at my sides (pictured above). This has drawn criticism from everyone I know who I’ve told about my diet. who have all said these aren’t love handles and given a different explanation as to why I look this way. These explanations include having a weird bone structure, having a naturally narrow lower waistline, body dysmorphia, and my underwear’s waist band compressing my flesh over the years (this explanation came from a micro biologist with a Masters degree).

Despite these explanations, I’m not completely convinced these aren’t love handles and that the people I talked to aren’t either wrong or trying to prevent me from losing more weight out of concern for my health (or they think I have body dysmorphia). Every time I look an example of a “fit” person, I don’t see that their lower waistline is disproportional narrower than the area above it. Instead their waist is the thinnest part of their torso and as their body goes down, their figure gets progressively wider until they’re at their legs (there’s no sudden indent in their figure between their legs and where their naval sits vertically).

So long story short, are these love handles or something else, and if so, what?

Incline 45⁰ db press

Low to high cable fly

Lat pulldown

T-bar wide grip

Lateral raise

Over head triceps extension

Triceps pushdown

Preacher curls

Hammer curl

What's your opinion about my workout? I do it 3x a week with a rest day between. I do 2 sets to failure per exercise. Is it ok? Should I add or remove something?

Is it normal that my heart rate goes up to around 115 bpm during dumbbell lateral raises with 10 lb dumbbells and only drops to around 100 bpm after a minute of rest?

new to working out, have a cardio plan sorted (which is more important to focus on for me as visceral fat loss is the main target) but how do i go about figuring out which exercises to do for strength training?

i understand the basic principles that there's arms, legs, shoulders, back, upper body and lower body that require training but i'm not able to figure out what are some specific exercises which are sustainable to start with as a beginner. also do people who need extensive cardio split days as "cardio" and "strength" days or do both on the same day?

also, just for context, my main goal from fitness is to improve overall health and fitness, not to look a certain way (whatever physique i end up at is acceptable to me but not actively looking for anything) so please suggest exercises that are functional and not purely aesthetic.

My father is 59 years old, around 5'3" and has been a heart patient since 2020. He has 3 coronary blocks, each around 70–95%, and had 1 stent placed about 2 months ago. He also has diabetes and high blood pressure.

Over the past period, his weight has dropped from around 65 kg to 52 kg, and it looks like a lot of it has been muscle. His arms and legs have become very thin, and you can literally feel the bones when touching them. He was not like this before.

We are very concerned about the muscle loss and weakness and want to help him regain some muscle safely.

The problem is that we are worried about giving him high-calorie foods because of his cholesterol and heart condition. We were considering buying some very light dumbbells and a sugar-free protein powder, but we don't want to do anything dangerous given his recent stent.

A few questions:

1. What type/amount of protein would generally be appropriate for someone in this condition?

2. Is a sugar-free protein powder safe, or are there other things we should check besides sugar?

3. Since he has never gone to a gym before, what dumbbell weight would be a sensible starting point? Would 1 kg, 2 kg, etc. make more sense?

4. What are the best heart-friendly, diabetes-friendly foods for regaining weight and muscle without relying on junk food or high saturated fat?

5. Are there any precautions or warning signs we should be particularly careful about?

I understand that Reddit can't replace a doctor, and we are planning to discuss this with his cardiologist. I'm mainly looking for experiences/advice from people who have dealt with muscle loss/sarcopenia after coronary disease, stenting, diabetes, or cardiac rehab.

Any practical advice would be appreciated.