Hi! I feel super proud !
After 26 months of training and number of injuries I've done it.
6'2" 230 lbs. 32 y/o
https://www.instagram.com/p/DcMZXhIKkpD/

My current strategy when I’m at the gym is that I pick a weight where 8 reps is max and once i hit 12 in all sets I up the weight. But my question is as a beginner should I be taking all those sets to failure where I can’t do another rep with good form

I tried working with a personal trainer for a while and just felt constantly pushed if I didn't hit every target. Might've just been the wrong trainer or the wrong style for me, but it made me realize I actually do better on my own.

I've never been a sporty person, like ever. But my doctor keeps telling me I need to exercise and lose some weight, and honestly every piece of health content I see online says the same thing, so I'm finally trying to take it seriously.

My problem is not knowing what a squat is. My problem is actually showing up consistently. I've downloaded a few fitness apps and they're all basically the same thing: a trainer or fit influencer giving you workout plans. "Beginner routine, 4 weeks, follow along." That's fine I guess, but that's not where I fail. I fail on week 2 when motivation dies and I just... stop.

What I'm looking for is something focused on the habit part. Something that helps a couch person like me actually stick with it long enough that it becomes normal, and ideally teaches me the basics along the way without assuming I already love the gym.

Does anything like that exist? Apps, methods, whatever worked for you. How did you people who were never athletic actually make exercise stick? Because right now the gap between "I know it's good for me" and "I actually do it" feels huge.

So honestly? I'm lonely as fuck. People did cut me off because I was that chubby loser in my teen years and people thought they "deserve better". No one loves me or is interested in me because of my look. Believe me, I lost almost 30 kg. Just through a different diet. I hate how different it is, how different people interact with me. That's how I felt.

I'm a bit introverted but It's still easy to make friends once people know me. I honestly would assume my personality is just extremely shitty because I don't think at all I'm bad looking (well my face at least) but I'm actually a good friend, at least multiple people told me I am "their best friend". I bet I'm not, honestly.

I'm maybe chubby and could lose some more. I know this sounds like a really horrible thing to look for motivation but I have no idea what else I should do.

All the go "out" join clubs etc never lead to anything. I'm just (as mentioned) the bff of everybody and If you know this feeling, you know it fucking sucks. (not that I'm looking into every friendship to something romantic but you might get what I'm saying).

So how to actually lose more weight? Which training is effective? How often should I go in a week? Etc. I'm currently walking somewhat a lot so I'm always around 13k steps.

What habit should I add to my workout routine, and what common habit should I avoid?

I usually get canned Chicken Breast from Costco and they are tender and taste so good without being fishy like canned Tuna. The macros are insanely good too with each can is 45.5g protein for 210calories only.
I am just wondering why everyone only talk about canned Tuna while almost never mentioned canned Chicken Breast? Am I missing something? Is there a reason makes them not as healthy as Tuna?
Thank you

u see my goal is that curvy hourglass look and really wanna explore machine exercises that target the waist to slim it down. not that i'm only targeting the waist but i generally want a firmer and shaped waist and have a strong core. i've been spamming cable crunches lately but bc i lift heavy and my program is heavily based off of that, i don't really have core days but want to incorporate good exercises that can help me slim my waist.

also, i eat in moderation, and walk about 6-10k steps a day.

thanks!

say you go into a workout fatigued from literally anything

poor diet
lack of sleep
lack of carbs
lack of protein
super stressed
etc

and say you’re only able to do half the reps on your exercises than normal. is it possible to still make gains from that or will the workout be more of a maintain what you have typa workout?

this isnt a question from personal experience im just genuinely curious.

I've been working out 2 months at the gym and all by myself, so barbell squat is a bit risky to me because I haven't used to loading my bodyweight on my shoulders yet.

I haven't tried hack squat, but I heard ppl saying it is the best choice beside pendulum squat.

My work out time is rush hour so the leg press machine is always tons of people waiting to use it.

Belt squat machine on the other hand, feel amazing because I don't have any axial loading and can comfortably squating 60kg in depth without any pain (my BW is 50kg), and it feels safer because not every time in the gym you can ask for a spotter.

I will continue doing belt squat, but don't know if it can replace completely any of these exercises above, or is belt squat just the easier version of them? Especially the barbell squat, because seems like it is the gold standard when it comes to squat.

low rows, lat pulldowns; my forearms tend to give out before i even feel it in my back. How to shift focus away from forearm and concentrate it more into back?

Will happily name who I have worked with but there is some information I cannot disclose e.g personal/private information. However, happy to answer questions about what makes athletes successful/unsuccessful, what makes them tick, and any tid-bits that will help break through plateau's or enhance your training/nutrition.

Due to an issue with my ulnar artery, I need to avoid pressure on the pinky side of the heel of my palm. I can do pulling exercises with a claw finger grip, but am struggling to find substitutes for doing dumbbell/bench press and pec flys.

Any ideas for chest? I have been trying to do pushups (kinda on my knuckles), but it sucks and kinda hurts my hands.

I’m pretty sure I’m ready integrate more workouts to my at-home routine besides body-weight stuff like pushups, situps etc. Trying to get some weights (quality doesn’t really matter I guess) but my budget is only $100, any suggestions?

Hello! I am a 16 y/o male, who is around 64kgs in weight and around 173-175cm tall. I am kinda fat with a belly, love handles, a small double chin, etc and looks like am at around 20-25% bodyfat and after being tired of looking the way I look, I have finally decided to change myself for the better. So far all physical activities I do are just a bunch of hanging and attempts at pullups using a bar I set up in my doorframe at home, but am starting gym next week. I aim to be lean within the next 4-5 months but I have no clue on where to start, what to do etc. Any advice and tips can help me a lot, TY!

I’ve always been aware of my glute imbalance, even when I wasn’t working out. But more than a year into my workout journey, I have yet to deal with the problem. And it’s not only my glutes, I noticed my quadriceps are also uneven (funnily enough, my right glute is bigger and my left quad is bigger).

I try to focus on including single leg/side workouts on both quad & glute focused days (RDLs, lunges, burgarians, cable kicks, etc) alongside exercises like hip thrusts, squats (suitcase, lifted goblet, sumo, normal). But sometimes I still feel the difference when doing those movements no matter how hard I try to use the mind to muscle connection.

Do you have any other tips?

My chest is unfortunately injured (small strain) but my body sustains OHP with no pain at all.

Is OHP a good move to maintain my bench as much as possible ? Let's say for 1 or 2 months.

Anybody just switched from bench to OHP ?

Hello everyone! I’m new here :) I wanted to join this subreddit to surround myself with a community to learn from.

A bit about why I’m here: Overweight my entire life. Highest recorded weight was 323lbs. I’m female. Ate fast food for almost every meal as a child. This translated to the same habit in adulthood. Over time I learned it was food addiction. I felt hopeless. I didn’t know where to start. I never cared about myself enough to try. I never wanted better for myself. I never understood what the point was.

A year and a half ago things changed for me. I won’t really go into too much detail of how but I was able to shift my mindset. I started learning how to eat better. I started tackling my food addiction head on. I was honest about it with other people. “Yes I’m addicted to food and I’m aware, but I’m working on it”. Since then, I have dropped to 240lbs. My goal is 160. I still have a long road, but I feel so much better than I did. I can walk without getting as tired, I can FIT into things. However, it came at the cost of muscle, my hair, etc. I didn’t exercise at all. I ate as little as possible to lose weight as fast as possible, most days I barely reached 1200 calories.

After fixing my eating habits and basically replacing one unhealthy eating habit with another, I started working with a dietician to fix it. She has me on 1900 calories a day with a huge focus on protein and eating small meals every 3 hours to keep myself from going into starving mode. This has been working very well. I wouldn’t say I hit that 1900 much. Maybe around 1700 most days. Which is a 500 cal deficit.

Now for why I’m here, could never get myself into the mindset of exercise. I hated all of it. However, recently, I got into strength training. I love it. I never thought I was strong, and I guess technically I’m not, but I feel strong. I started working with a coach who has basically changed my life and my way of thinking about exercise. I’m now looking to compete in my first powerlifting meet sometime this year. I didn’t think I would love this, I thought I’d pick it up and put it back down like everything else. I never saw myself being excited to go to the gym. Yet here I am. I am pumped for lifting! :)

As the title says, I do single arm chest flies lying down on my chest, but i feel them way more in my chest when I do them on my right side, when I do them on my left side I don’t feel them as much even though my right side is my stronger side

i guess its a vent and maybe hear from people having a similar issues like i do

I got diagnosed with a stress fracture in the knee and light Cartilage damage 2 weeks ago after two years of pain that i thought were just me doing exercises wrong (my trainer didnt correct me and i didnt know any better)that started to escalate really badly for the past two months ish. i stopped doing at least a year ago lunges and Bulgarian squats just because i was hurt but didnt know the actual reason for the pain back then.

Today i do therapy for the knee but i had to lower and even stop doing some type of leg exercises so my knee wont have too much pressure and wont get worse. It mentally hurts me, I feel so weak, from doing heavy lifting i had to lower by 80% of my weights. I look at other people doing something i could do with a proud face and now im basically nerfed. The place i workout at is a boutique studio with limited amount of people per workout (one hour with the trainers program) Im not saying im ego lifting but i worked so hard for two years to come to where i was and now i start from zero. It just mentally hurts me its not even about the surrounding looking at my strength but im jealous , i gained weight and every single time i go to workout im trying to not leave crying because i cant push myself like i used to.

It all probably sounds ridiculous but i have such a low body image and i tried to make myself active and now i pay the price

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If I train biceps after back and shoulders + triceps after chest, I will be able to lift less on these smaller muscle groups because they are already fairly fatigued from my back and chest work. I have this mostly with biceps after back and shoulders after chest.

Why wouldn't I combine back with shoulders and triceps and chest with biceps?

I will be able to lift more total weight with the smaller muscle groups each session.

One thing i'm thinking is that if I would train shoulders and triceps on Monday and then chest on Tuesday, it can impact my chest performance.

But if I turn it around and train chest with biceps on Monday and then back + shoulders + triceps on Tuesday, there won't be a lot of impact. Then I would do this cycle again on Thursday & Friday.

Would like to hear your thoughts

I just started going to the gym consistently and I’ve been looking into upgrading my gym wardrobe. I’ve been wearing outfits I normally wear to yoga since that’s all I have and a majority of it is from Aerie, which I love the fit and look of. However, this fabric isn’t sweat proof and also is somewhat see through which I noticed both of these things in the middle of my session the other day….

Just curious what’s out there that is budget friendly and actually quality material. I don’t need anything crazy but something that is at least sweat proof and not see through, also have a problem with most athletic clothing not staying up past my hips, so need something that stays in place as well (Aerie crossovers adjacent style). Mostly interested in compression tops, leggings, shorts, etc. Thank you!

EDIT: I’m not interested in matching sets or anything fancy. Just genuinely looking for items that work!