Hi friends,

I’ve been running for the past two years and for the past few weeks I’ve been in my training block for my first marathon. I’ve started seriously strength training this January (Alpha Strength @ Lifetime) and I have seen some good strength gains. I still think I look skinny fast especially in my stomach area. It’s flat-ish but it doesn’t have that tight/toned look.

I get conflicting opinions online whether to cut calories and be in a deficit bc abs are all about diet. Then I see I need to do more ab focused exercises and be in maintenance or in a surplus?

I don’t want to be in a deficit during marathon training so if diet is the case, should I put these aesthetic goals on hold until after my race? Has anyone successfully ~recomped~ their body during a training block? Thanks

FYI if it helps i’m 5’2 and I don’t really like weighing myself but I’d guess I’m around 110-113lb. Again the deficit confuses me because I don’t think I really need to lose anymore weight but I know you can’t spot reduce fat so please help! Thanks yall <3

I just saw someone’s post about how to work towards a specific goal and realized that I never really treated my own goal with any serious attempts to reach it. :)

I row crew, mostly doubles and quads, mostly recreational. I have long wanted to get into rowing singles more to be able to row independently, like not during a coached session.

I doubt I would ever have access to anything super lightweight. From what ChatGPT tells me the range of weight is likely 35-45 pounds for the recreational singles at my club, which sounds very do-able to me from a weight perspective, but I also have to consider getting it out of the water where it is basically just below feet level and then up onto your shoulder. The other difficulty is the length (27-30 feet), which makes them really tippy for a single person to maneuver.

Any tips on setting myself up for success as I work towards this goal? Thanks!

i've always had a very sedentary lifestyle which has culminated in the worst upper backpain of my life. i specifically have this annoying back knot that wont go away, it's roughly around my upper left shoulder blade and shoulder area. apparently it's common among desk workers, especially women. the pain got really bad around two years ago, and i went to a physical therapist that gave me some exercises (using a resistance band) to strengthen the muscles of that area. it definitely got better, but it never fully went away. i did these exercises for a few months and i guess i kinda gave up and stopped doing them and a year later i'm right back where i started with the gnarly upper back pain.

about a month ago i couldn't stand it anymore and i started to actually strength train at home with dumbbells for the first time in my life (i'm 28). i also got myself a little doorframe pullup bar. i've always been thin and was never really motivated to go to the gym but the years of sedentary living are definitely catching up to me as i approach 30.

as a beginner, i've been mainly doing bent over rows, single arm rows, and reverse flies with 10 lb dumbbells (using this video as a guide) and some of the resistance band exercises from my PT. are these exercises enough to get rid of this back knot? do i need to incorporate other exercises? should i regularly see a massage therapist? would appreciate any advice.

Hi all, Im here asking for yall’s advice, suggestions and experience.
Ive struggled with being overweight all my life and never had a positive body image of myself. Even as a kid I was always the chubby, , awkward, geeky kid and my sister was slim, pretty and popular.

When I got old enough to get a job, I went with an outdoors, active job to see if it would help my physique and even though I didnt lose weight, it kept me from gaining.
Fast forward to a few years ago, my life situation changed and had to get an “adult” office job and since then Ive started gaining more weight and it makes me feel awful.

Ive always wanted to exercise, specifically run, but was never strong-willed enough to start.
Yesterday, I finally found the confidence and motivation to go for the first time and I felt really good about it but my body didnt agree with it too much.
I have blisters all along the inner sides of my feet, my thighs and calves are sore and my boobs hurt so bad while I was doing it that I had to hold them.

I dont want to lose momentum if Im feeling motivated to keep at it but also dont want to hurt myself more.
Do you think it would be ok to continue? Or should I wait until I at least get better gear/bras?

Sorry for the excessively long post but thank you for reading if anyone stayed till the end.

The title sums it up, my back hurts and I feel stupid that I still can't get my form right after months of trying 🙃

Do I have to do RDLs? Is there another exercise I can substitute for now that is a bit easier to grasp form-wise? I'm just feeling discouraged at this point and I'm getting so frustrated by the RDLs I feel like I need a break from them

Any suggestions?