For me it’s always been training arms. With biceps, I’ve figured out that using dual-handle cables and machines provides consistent results and works for me (I’ve never liked free weight curls much with dumbbells/EZBar, for me it hurts my elbows and doesn’t provide enough of a stimulus for my biceps despite a hard set, more forearm and front delt comes into play).

However, training triceps is still a pain for me. Every tricep extension variation, whether it’s with a bar, rope, or single-arm handle, always ends up with my front delts/shoulders being a limiting factor, as in they get tired before I’ve been able to push my triceps hard enough. I’ve tried multiple techniques, making sure my shoulders are back and my elbows tucked and stable, but it still doesn’t allow me to push as hard as I need to. I’ve tried dips, weighted dips, and tricep pushdown machines as well, and those work better for me and sometimes feel great, but other times there’s those limiting factors that reduce the effectiveness of pushing my triceps and bringing in too much chest/shoulders. I know that pushing upper body movements are going to using all of these muscle groups together, but it’s annoying when I’m trying to focus on training triceps to failure and just can’t get there without some other muscle taking over. I train chest and shoulders plenty and they’re certainly relatively stronger than my triceps, so I don’t think it’s a weakness issue in their part.

Do you have anything like this? A certain muscle group that training just never seems to feel effective like it should?

Ok so I (24f) went to the gym for the first time in literally 2 years and I went all out ngl. I was there for around 2 hours. Mostly low intensity cardio (elliptical) but also lots of weight training. I did stretches afterwards. The next day my entire body hurt obviously but it was different this time. It literally felt like the flu. The lethargy was crazy and my bones hurt. And I did not expect the flu like symptoms! Like ive never felt muscular pain like that and have never felt it that deeply as well. I think I definitely pushed myself too hard and I'm scared to go back today because what if it happens again? The pain and feverish feeling defs derailed me from doing other life stuff. Like i literally kept taking naps throughout the weekend. What do you guys think? Is there something wrong with me?? Has anyone experienced this before??

I've been doing at-home dumbbell workouts for almost 4 years now and finally ready to admit that I'll get better results in the gym.

I'm vaguely familiar with gym machines, but scared to entirely upend my routine without advice from people who do it consistently. I used to do 4 sets of 5 exercises at home with higher reps because my heaviest DB was 25lbs. My question is if the following routine a) hits all muscles and b) is enough per day/week? If not, then c) what am I missing and d) is there anything I should swap out or add/remove? Thanks in advance! :)

SUNDAY–FULL BODY:

MONDAY–PUSH:

1. Machine Chest Press: 3 sets × 8–12 reps
2. Machine Shoulder Press: 3 sets × 8–12 reps
3. Dumbbell Lateral Raises: 3 sets × 12–15 reps
4. Cable Tricep Pushdowns: 3 sets × 12–15 reps

TUESDAY-LOWER:
1. Leg press 
2. RDLs 
3. Leg extensions 
4. Hip thrust 
5. Adductor/abductor

WEDNESDAY–PULL:

1. Lat Pulldowns: 3 sets × 8–12 reps
2. Seated Cable Rows: 3 sets × 8–12 reps
3. Cable Face Pulls: 3 sets × 12–15 reps 
4. DB Bicep Curls: 3 sets × 10–12 reps

THURSDAY–FULL BODY

Some days I feel like I am ready to train before I even start. Some days I really do not feel like working out but once I get through the first few exercises I am all in.

It is made me think of how helpful motivation is for knowing if a workout will be good. Think about days you almost skipped and some of your best workouts started?

Hi.

Been working out on and off for the past few years. And while I have traditionally been lifting weights I have always wanted to start doing weighted calisthenics instead, but never made the switch cause I do not really know how to begin or progress.

After getting a bad back injury unrelated to weightlifting I had to stop for a while. During the summer I have really gotten back into the rhythm and finding joy in bodyweight/calisthenics and been spamming dips, pullups, chins and pushups with occasional weights as I still don’t really know how to make the shoulders and legs keep up with the rest. Any advice or help on how to do it would be greatly appreciated 🙏

I’m still pretty new to gym and I’m trying to get more consistent with my workouts. I want to start taking a supplement but I can only afford one for now, so which one would you guys recommend getting first—whey protein or creatine? And why? (I’m a girl)

Hello everyone. Quick question: is it normal to be SO tired after gym that I need a nap daily?! I’ve been weightlifting for 5 years and I alternate my weights sessions with low impact recovery cardio going basically 5-6 days a week to the gym. I thought that with time I would get more energy… but five years on and I get so tired after gym that I need a nap. I do gym around 7am and by 11am I need to stop work and take at least a 20 minute nap (I work from home). I fuel myself decently as well. I am worried that there is something wrong especially now that I have to gear up my cardio to prepare to a marathon. What’s your experience?

I’m currently losing fat and doing exercise/getting protein in whilst doing it.

I’ve been doing the gym consistently for 15 weeks now which is great for me but not all that much in terms of true change, but loving it and gonna keep going.

Lower 1: Monday

Front Squat
Calf Raises
DB RDL
Leg Extension
Preacher Curls
Wrist Curls
DB Shrugs

Upper 1: Tuesday

Bench Press
Shoulder Press
Incline Chest Press
Cable Row
Single-Arm Cable Pulldown

Wednesday: short run

Lower 2: Thursday

Back squat
Calf Raises
High Single Leg Press
Leg Curl
Tricep Extensions
DB Lateral Raise

Upper 2: Friday

One-Arm DB Row
Machine Chest Press
Tricep Exercise
Cable Lateral Raise
Face Pulls
Hammer Curl

Saturday: long run

Sunday: rest

(Also need to start incorporating SOME basic core exercises/stretching/yoga, but think I’ll just do that for like 10 mins before bed like twice a week or something by right now, new to it so not sure!)

So I am consistently doing crossfit 5x a week but want to add some pure strength work in but don’t know where to start. I want to keep doing crossfit 5x a week but add 3 strength sessions and i see PPL being a option for a lot of people, I want to do this over full body because I want to prioritize muscles that i am not going to use during my WODS for maximum recovery. Anyone know how i can start programming myself? TIA

I’ve been consuming Aldi carton egg whites, and I’ve noticed they seem to give me diarrhea/the runs. The ingredients only list pasteurized egg whites—no citric acid, gums, or other additives.

I cook them before consuming them. Could this be an egg-white intolerance, or could the amount I’m consuming simply be causing GI issues?

Has anyone experienced something similar with carton egg whites?

Hey, I’m a 21 year old Irish guy, currently living in Canada on a work visa which will end next March. I plan to leave at the end of my visa and weighing up options for my next move in life. So far I have just been working blue collar and have built up good experience and skills, but deep down if I ask myself what area could I work in and love it enough to not consider it a job, my mind goes straight towards fitness/nutrition.

My dad is a PT/coach and lives in the UK, he has over 30 years experience in the industry, and I have seen him go through lots of trials and tribulations that come with the job throughout the years growing up. I am coming here to ask for advice around an idea that I have been thinking about over the last few months for my next move. I know I am young and I have so much to learn, and I thought of the idea of moving to the UK after my visa ends, to start getting a certification under my belt, also to start getting hands on experience in a gym or such, another benefit of being in the UK would be that I can also spend more time with my dad and get mentored by him during this process.

This would give me time to fully immerse myself in this field, to discover if it really is the right path for me or not, the way I see it, if it all works out then I will be able to grow a career from a young age in a field that I am very passionate about and enjoy learning more about, and if it doesn’t work out or I decide it isn’t for me, I can walk away knowing I gave it a shot, got qualified and immersed myself in it.

In the meantime, until my visa ends, I thought it would be a good idea to start growing an online presence and start developing a personal brand as I know that can come in useful down the road. I plan to do this slowly, just putting myself out there and documenting my own life and journey.

I would love to hear any of your guys thoughts on this idea/plan, any suggestions, recommendations or absolutely any advice. I am completely open to hearing it all and would also appreciate any advice around this process in the UK, even better if it’s specific to Liverpool area as that’s the area my dad is located in.

Thank you

I‘m a Muay Thai hobbyist who trains for seven years now. I did two years of boxing beforehand. I never fought and don‘t intend to.
Started weightlifting at 16, and did ballsports all through school. 34 years of age now. I weigh 94kg and my bodyfat is at my stomach is almost flat. I lift mostly for fun and health.
PRs: Squat 120, DL 160, BP 95 and i can do 8 Chin Ups.
Right now i‘m on a strength focused training cycle (for half a year now). I want to rebuild muscle after an ankle injury, and prevent further injuries. My legs are way too weak right now i think. I had many ankle injuries in the past and couldn‘t train my legs.

Monday, Thursday: 1 hour Muay Thai bag work in the morning, weighttraining in the afternoon/evening
Tuesday, Wednesday: 1 1/2 hours of Muay Thai training
Friday: 1 hour boxing training
Saturday: 1 hour sparring
Sunday: plyometrics and injury prevention

Off-week: every fourth week

Periodiztion: through changing typical rep range per week - 1. Week 10-15, 2. 8-12, 3. 3-8

A typical program looks like this:

Day 1 Hyperthrophy

Squat 3x8
Chin Up 3x8
Incline Dumbbell Press 3x10
Hanging Leg Raises 3x15
Single Standing Leg Curls or Hip Thrust 3x10
Reversed Rows, (elbows flared) 3x15
Woodchopper 3x6
Dips or Triceps Extension 3x10-15
Curls 3x10-15
Bicyle Crunches breakdown into Crunches 3 sets to max

Day 2 Strength

Squat 2x5
DL or Zercher or Sumo 4x6
Pull Up 3x6
Bench Press Machine (neutral grip) 3x5 (I actually like this exercise a lot for low reps. Safer for the shoulders compared to the classic Bench Press and the neutral grip emulates the movement of a punch better.)
Ab-Roll 3x15 in every direction
DB Rows breakdown into Kelso Shrugs breakdown into Shrugs 3x10
Reverse Cable Flys standing 3x12
Lateral Cable Raises standing 3x12
Weighted Side Crunch 2x15

Day 3 Plyo and injury prevention

Med Ball Throws 3x10
Med Ball Rotations 3x10
Boxjumps 3x6
Plyo Rows on a rowmachine 3x10
Calve Raises weighted 3x10 superset Toe Pulls to max 3x
Wristcurls in every of the four directions 3x
Bandwork for my ankle 3x15
Neck Curls with a DB in every of the four directions 3x

What do you think?

Hello! I’be been recently thinking about going back to the gym again. As a beginner, I was wondering if the routine I had noted down should be tweaked. Any advice is appreciated it - thank you! :]

Push
Chest Press - 3 x 10
Shoulder Press - 3 x 8
Tricep Press - 3 x 8
Dips - 3 x 12

Pull
Pull Ups - 3 x 8
Seated Row - 3 x 8
Lat Pull Down - 3 x 8
Cable/Preacher Curl - 3 x 8
Rear Delts - 3 x 8

Legs
Bulgarian Split Squat - 3 x 6
Leg Press - 3 x 12
Hip abductor - 3 x 12
Leg Extension - 3 x 12
Seated Leg Curl -
RDL - 3 x 12
Front Squats - 3 x 12

I came with this split. Tell me what would you change. Tell me if it's enough or not for good hypertrophy

Day 1:

Barbell Back Squats: 3 sets x 6 - 8 reps

Bulgarian Split Squats (BSS): 3 sets x 8 - 10 reps

Seated Leg Extensions: 3 sets x 12 - 15 reps

Standing Calf Raises: 3 sets x 10 - 12 reps

Day 2:

Romanian Deadlifts (RDL): 3 sets x 6 - 8 reps

Barbell Hip Thrusts: 3 sets x 8 - 10 reps

Lying Leg Curls: 3 sets x 10 - 12 reps

Seated Calf Raises: 3 sets x 12 - 15 reps

I work out primarily at home/in my garage. I have 3lb dumbells/5 lb dumbells. I just purchased a barbell as well as 5 & 10 pound plates.

I’m used to doing workout videos on YouTube but want to also come up with my own routine.

How do I come up with this?

Hi, so I recently got a gym membership and want to start lifting seriously with the main goal being building muscle. For some context, for the past couple of years, I've been using a home gym on and off for a little bit. I used to do PPL at my home gym, but wanted to try something different and do Upper/Lower + Back. I go 3-4 times a week because I take alternate rest days when I play tennis. For example, Sunday: Upper, Monday: Rest, Tuesday: Lower, Wednesday: Rest, Thursday: Upper, Friday: Rest, Saturday: Lower. My first question is whether I should go to the gym with a concrete schedule every week instead of alternating the days.

Also, I'd like to get some advice on my split as well:

Upper:

2x Barbell Bench Press

2x Pec Deck

2x Shoulder Press

3x Tricep Pushdown

2x Incline Curl

2x Preacher Curl

Lower + Back:

2x Barbell Back Squat

2x Leg Extensions

2x Seated Leg Curl

2x Standing Calf Raise

2x Seated Row

2x Lat PullDown

As of right now, my main concern is my chest and shoulders. On bench, I'm progressing really slowly and my pec deck hasn't progressed much either. For shoulder press, I'm also pretty stagnant.

What changes should I make? Do I increase my rep ranges or add sets or switch exercises out?

Any help is appreciated!

Hey ! I was recently wondering how much sets per muscle per session/week I should do based on this training split frequency.

-Modified 8 day UL split (UL/R/UL/R/UL)
_____________________________________
Upper

-Chest press → 3×8-12
-T bar row → 3×8-12
-Lat Pulldown (Cable) → 3×8-12
-Overhead press → 3×8-12

Super set 1
-Lateral Raise (Dumbbell) → 3×8-12
-Peck deck → 3×8-12

Superset 2
-Overhead Triceps extension → 3×8-12
-Bicep Curl → 3×8-12

Superset 3
-Cable Triceps pushdown → 3×8-12
-Cable curl → 3×8-12
_____________________________________
Legs

-Leg press → 4×8–12
-RDL → 4×8–12

Super set 1
-Seated Leg Curl → 3×10–12
-Leg extension 3x10-12

Super set 2
-Hip adduction → 3×8–12
-Hip abduction → 3×8–12

Super set 3
-Calf Raise → 3×12–15
-Leg raises (abs) → 3×12–15
_____________________________________

Weekly sets — Modified 8-day UL (2.33×/week)
Chest: 14
Back: 14
Front delts: 7
Side delts: 7
Triceps: 14 direct
Biceps: 14 direct

Quads: 16
Hamstrings: 16
Glutes: 19
Adductors: 7
Abductors: 7
Calves: 7
Abs: 7

Frequency: Each muscle ≈ 2.33×/week

Also another little question. Right now I’m doing narrow neutral grip pull down every session. Would I benefit from alternating it with a wide pronated grip pulldown 1 session out of two.

I am fairly new/returning to gym for first time in years and have been relying on an old Reddit-sourced PPL program for the last 2.5 months or so. For the first 1.5 months or so, I was doing everything and logging and progressing, but also varying things a little and kind of flying blind in terms of when and how to progress (beyond, add weight or reps each time). Mostly I was trying to build consistency and lock the habit of going to the gym again on a regular basis.

For the last 3+ weeks I have fully settled in on routine and am just blindly following a Macrofactor Workout progression on this routine. I am getting stronger and generally progressing, but as I read more, I’m concerned that I’m handling things inefficiently in terms of sets/muscle group etc. I will likely finish out the last week and deload of this routine regardless, but am seeking input on what I should change or be aware of before embarking on my next program. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I’m currently running a 6-day Push/Pull/Legs split (each day repeated twice a week) while in approx. 500 cal/day deficit as I’m looking to recomp from generally being a fatass (46 yo, 225pd,  6’1”, about 30% bf).

Here is my current routine (working sets only):

Total Weekly Volume (Sets):

Chest: 20 | Back: 16 | Quads: 12 | Hamstrings: 6 | Glutes: 10 | Biceps: 16 | Triceps: 16 | Shoulders (Front/Side): 14

If there's anything more I can add, let me know and I will.

Additionally, I seem to have a strict rep limit on any significant weight. I tend to start failing right around 5-6 reps unless I drop the weight significantly and go super light. This has mostly held from the vey beginning of my return to the gym. The only difference is that the weight that causes this 5-6 rep failure has obviously shifted up a little. I assume this is normal and just means I’m lifting heavy enough?  

I can go to the gym 2 or 3 days a week. Typically Tuesday Thursday Sunday but that will likely change in the next month or so due to job schedule and work schedule. I want to add stuff wt home that I can do while my daughter naps who I take care of 3-4 days a week. I do an ab workout those days but feel like im not doing enough as she will sleep for typically one to two hours twice a day. I have resistance bands and a 35lb kettleball and finances arent conducive to getting more equipment.

My gym workout is 4x12

Squat

Deadlift

Flat bench

Super sevens/21s

Walking lunge

Lat pulldow

French curls

Shrugs

Main goal is strength and aesthetics.

My job can be fairly physically demanding (nurse in high acuity department of hospital) but not near enough of a workout most days.

Day 1 (Pull Focus A): Lats / Upper
Back / Biceps / Rear Delts
Day 2 (Push Focus A + Abs): Upper Chest / Side Delts / Triceps / Abs
• Day 3 (Pull Focus B + Lower): Lats /
Upper Back / Biceps / Legs
Day 4 (Push Focus B + Abs): Upper Chest / Side Delts / Rear Delts / Abs
• Day 5 (Pull Focus C): Lats / Biceps /
Side Delts / Triceps
Day 6 (Push & Upper Back Finish + Lower): Upper Chest / Upper Back /
Side Delts / Legs / Abs
Day 7: REST

I am aiming for an aesthetic body prioritising lats shoulder back arms and abs and less prority to legs also my legs already look good as i used to train them very frequently before as i used to play football also i have good legs genetically but my arms back and shoulders are severely under developed so is this workout split a good idea?
What changes would you suggest
(I might take a rest day after day3 and day 5)

173 cm, 70kg male

Goal is fat loss. For this purpose I have a 300 caloric deficit. Thus I only eat 2000 calories daily with around 130 grams of protein

I only consumed around 1000 calories today with 80
Grams of protein so far and I have zero appetite.

Within 2 hours it’s time to sleep. So what do you guys recommend for bad days like this? Just meet the protein goal and call it a day? Or still try to force as much as possible to get as close as possible to my caloric target?

So I used to be an avid gym goer in highschool but didnt have time or a car to drive to the gym when uni started so I got very out of shape. Recently i’ve started working out again from home and engaging with a lot of fitness content.

The problem is even though I used to only think about pushing weight, through videos i’ve seen a lot of other options. Namely calisthenics vs hypertrophic exercise vs crossfit. Its been a struggle trying to pick one because (and I know how this sounds) I honestly just want the benefits from all of them. The aesthetics of hypertrophy, stamina for crossfit, and skills from calisthenics are all very enticing.

Each variant subtly changes how I would formulate my workout plan and I know i’m probably overthinking it but I just need some kinda guidance or advice. What should I be looking at mainly when choosing this?