At home/limited equipment workout resources

I (52f) have started a disciplined programme to get myself back to strength after years of cancer treatments. I am doing reformer Pilates twice a week, and weight training 2-3 times (plus some cardio as warmup). I really like the idea of using my “off” days to enhance my mobility and flexibility. I currently use Mady Morrison‘s stretching videos 4-5 times a week (They are beautiful and relaxing), and Tom Merrick who explains the stretches really well.

Here is the question: I’ve gone down a rabbit hole of YT yoga and flexibility videos. I am really not interested in the spiritual side of yoga, but I am curious if am missing something? Any thoughts/suggestions.

Hi there!

I recently started lagree, and I’m trying to determine the best workout split. Prior to Lagree, I would do 4 days of lifting with 1-2x cardio (boxing or spin).

With now doing Lagree, I’m trying to do 1-2x Lagree, 2-3x lifting, 1x cardio. I try to avoid lifting the day before Lagree, as I did that the first week and noticed I’m not able to fully engage in the class from being too sore from lifting the day before.

Right now I’m doing (but would love intel from you guys to see if there’s a better split!)

Monday: Lagree Tuesday: Squat focused/Leg Day Wednesday: Deadlift/Pull Day or Boxing Thursday: Off Friday: Lagree Saturday: Hip Thrust/Glute Focused or Boxing Sunday: Boxing (if I didn’t do it prior that week) or off day

Also if you have done Lagree in the past, I’d love to hear your experience on how it affected your body!

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My wife and I have a spare room that we are planning on making a home gym in. It's 15mx20m, hardwood floors and tall ceilings with beautiful views of the Cornish countryside. Equipment wise we aren't sure what we want- I mainly do weights, Pilates and running and my wife mainly does yoga, running and cycling. We won't get a treadmill- there is beautiful pathways near our house that are lovely for running, but we are considering a bike, Pilates reformer and weight bench/rack. The focal point of this room is clean modern aesthetics with little luxuries interdespersed. We are getting foam wood effect flooring put in, and the walls are getting painted a nice light sage. What are your favourite things in your home gym?

We want to divide it into three "Zones"

1. recovery, space to stretch and sit

Down, maybe a drinks fridge so we can chat while the other person works out. Also considering a storage bench here for bands and yoga/pilates equipment.

2. Gentle exercise, our Pilates and yoga section. Reformer here hopefully.

3. Hard buckle-down exercise. Weight rack and bench here, bike "the sweat zone" not sure what else to go here but will dedicate the most space to this section.

What are your favourite pieces of gym equipment? All in all our budget is up to £15,000. We want to make it good, we love being active and exercising and we have already completed the rest of our house lol so we can afford to make this the best!

Welcome to our Daily Simple Questions thread - we're excited to have you hang out with us, especially if you're new to the sub. Are you confused about the FAQ or have a basic question about an exercise / alternatives? Do you have a quick question about calculating TDEE, lift numbers, running times, swimming intervals, or the like? Post here and the folks of xxfitness will help you answer your questions, no matter how big or small.

Welcome to our daily discussion thread! Tell stories, share thoughts, ask questions, swap advice, and be excellent to each other! Though we all share fitness as a common hobby or interest, the discussion here can be about any big or little thing you choose. The mods ask that you do mind the Cardinal Rules as they relate to respecting yourself and others, calling out any scantily clad photos as NSFW, and not asking for medical advice.

I did a "dry January" for financial reasons and at the same time (ETA: mildly) increased my calorie and protein intake. Hard to tell what is what, but I've made a lot better progress in my lifts over the last month.

I was having 1 tallboy beer per week, which doesn't seem like it would have major effect. Does anyone know if there's any research on light/mild alcohol intake on fitness (particularly muscle or strength gain)?

I'm also curious, outside of the gym, what have been the most useful lifestyle changes for you to support your fitness goals?

Welcome to our Daily Simple Questions thread - we're excited to have you hang out with us, especially if you're new to the sub. Are you confused about the FAQ or have a basic question about an exercise / alternatives? Do you have a quick question about calculating TDEE, lift numbers, running times, swimming intervals, or the like? Post here and the folks of xxfitness will help you answer your questions, no matter how big or small.

Welcome to our daily discussion thread! Tell stories, share thoughts, ask questions, swap advice, and be excellent to each other! Though we all share fitness as a common hobby or interest, the discussion here can be about any big or little thing you choose. The mods ask that you do mind the Cardinal Rules as they relate to respecting yourself and others, calling out any scantily clad photos as NSFW, and not asking for medical advice.

From these threads:

https://www.reddit.com/r/xxfitness/comments/1gix4tw/which_apps_are_good_for_workout_tracking

https://www.reddit.com/r/naturalbodybuilding/comments/sqnu9e/which_app_do_you_guys_use_to_track_your_workout

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/128opuh/favorite_gym_tracker_app

I collect that it's down to FitNotes (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.jamesgay.fitnotes) VS Strong (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.strongapp.strong)

So I gave both a try and I am AMAZED that FitNotes doesn't have something as basic as SETS. Like, rly? Manually having to find, add and select the same exercise 4 times just to have sth as basic as 3-4 sets and say 6-12 reps. At least that part is very well taken care of in Strong. Plus, Strong used to offer integration to Google Fit so maybe they'll extend that to the new Google Health or whatever ... just so one can view fitness data on PC, say fx via https://www.fitnesssyncer.com .

What are your thoughts on which one of the 2 apps to use?

PS - for nutrition tracking I use https://cronometer.com It has both web and smartphone version plus it's free unlike MyFitnessPal. Was also amazed to see how poor the actual (strength) training tracking capability is in MyFitnessPal ... for the money it offers so little of that. At least has a good database of foods, but Cronometer is luckily catching up.

Hi everyone! I’ve been trying to figure out the best workout routine for my goals and I could really use some opinions.

A little info about me, I'm 23F, and I have a bit of experience with basic bodyweight exercises before, although I stopped for about 2 years now. I have some shoulder issues, particularly with my left shoulder, and I’ve been cautious about certain movements. I’m aiming to build strength, improve posture, and achieve a lean physique.

I’ve considered two approaches, and I’m wondering which one might be more effective for someone like me:

1. Calisthenics with equipment such as bars + dumbbells/barbell for isolated movements (especially to build my shoulders, upper back, and legs).
2. Going to the gym (though I don’t find it very convenient). I’m not a fan of the commute, crowded places, and the lack of flexibility with gym schedules.

I’m motivated to do calisthenics since it allows me to work out from home without the hassle and that it's easier on the joints, but I wonder if I’ll be able to achieve the results I’m aiming for with dumbbells/barbell and bodyweight exercises. On the other hand, going to the gym with more equipment might allow for better overall muscle development and more equipment/machines.

What do you guys think? Would love to hear your thoughts and experiences!

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Hey! I've been training for over a year and a half now and have been making great, steady progress. The thing is that I have very stiff ankles so my butt wink is awful and whenever I increase the weights, my lower back hurts. Recently I've started warming up my ankles more which resulted in some odd pain that happens in my left ankle when I put a lot of weight on it, it comes and goes but I feel like I injured myself with the stretching so I'll lay off squats for a while.

I train glutes and hamstrings separate from legs, so they're split in 2 different days, and I am looking for some advice on which exercises could train the same muscles as squats do so I don't completely neglect those muscles until I can come back to squatting once I fix my form through flexibility training.

Thanks! 💛

Welcome to our Daily Simple Questions thread - we're excited to have you hang out with us, especially if you're new to the sub. Are you confused about the FAQ or have a basic question about an exercise / alternatives? Do you have a quick question about calculating TDEE, lift numbers, running times, swimming intervals, or the like? Post here and the folks of xxfitness will help you answer your questions, no matter how big or small.

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I am a pretty sedentary person and I decided that I wanted to increase my stamina and possibly work my way up to losing a few pounds at some point. As well as just generally getting in more steps.

I can't go walking outside for various reasons, and I can't afford a treadmill or walk pad or anything like that. Plus I need something fairly low impact. So what I did was I got myself an aerobic step platform with three different heights. I just started, but for the past couple of days I've been placing it in front of me and literally just stepping on and off the platform continuously while I watch something. Right now I only use the lowest height for about 20 minutes each time.

Is this an effective way to improve my cardio/stamina? I can definitely feel it and my heart rate goes up at least a bit, but I'm worried I'm not doing enough to make any real impact. My plan is to work my way up to alternating between the different heights. So like smallest height for ten minutes, medium for 10, highest for another 10 and then work my way back down. I also have small weights I can use while I'm moving. Is this a good way to go about what I'm trying to do?

Also, is what I'm doing more impactful than walking since I'm taking steps up and down rather than just walking on a flat surface? Or is it about the same/possibly even less impactful?

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Hey ladies,

I’ve been lifting 3x a week for the last 4 months. All good. But whenever I add running or Pilates to the mix, I find that my legs are just tired every single day. For running, it’s calves and for Pilates, it’s quads.

I workout 5-6 days a week. I’m eating about 2000-2100 calories, and I’m ~150lbs. I drink a lot of water and electrolytes and get at least 110g of protein per day and 250g carbs. Stretching & foam rolling are my weak points, I try to do them after every workout but it’s probably more like 50% of the time.

It could be a lot worse but I want to be able to enjoy Pilates and/or running without feeling my legs burn out! Any tips?

Welcome to our Daily Simple Questions thread - we're excited to have you hang out with us, especially if you're new to the sub. Are you confused about the FAQ or have a basic question about an exercise / alternatives? Do you have a quick question about calculating TDEE, lift numbers, running times, swimming intervals, or the like? Post here and the folks of xxfitness will help you answer your questions, no matter how big or small.

Welcome to our daily discussion thread! Tell stories, share thoughts, ask questions, swap advice, and be excellent to each other! Though we all share fitness as a common hobby or interest, the discussion here can be about any big or little thing you choose. The mods ask that you do mind the Cardinal Rules as they relate to respecting yourself and others, calling out any scantily clad photos as NSFW, and not asking for medical advice.

...and that price is usually coordination or social etiquette. Post your fitness and related fails to this thread.

Squat form check. Hoping to get some feedback. I got a lot of good info last time I asked for help. I feel like my form has improved a ton but looking for any tips.

https://youtube.com/shorts/fDzy5n7cizY?si=XyANlqqf80vW_4z4

https://youtu.be/a5UK9Z6mPrw?si=VLc4d3r4VQ1J5SLA

I was so detached from my body for so long— without really realizing it. In fact, I was often a bit disturbed while thinking about it: it seemed to be something so animal and fairly gross. I used to have thoughts of escaping my physical form and being nothing but a floating consciousness (…tbf I loved psychedelics when I was younger lol).

Exercise has made me realize my body is instead an integral part of who I am— not the way it looks, but how it feels and operates. I had been under the impression that I was not my body at all, but my soul. I realize now that both are true, in fact they impact each other incredibly. It’s okay to be an animal, this is what life is after all.

Being attuned to my physical health has granted me so much more peace of mind and confidence.

Welcome to our Daily Simple Questions thread - we're excited to have you hang out with us, especially if you're new to the sub. Are you confused about the FAQ or have a basic question about an exercise / alternatives? Do you have a quick question about calculating TDEE, lift numbers, running times, swimming intervals, or the like? Post here and the folks of xxfitness will help you answer your questions, no matter how big or small.

Welcome to our daily discussion thread! Tell stories, share thoughts, ask questions, swap advice, and be excellent to each other! Though we all share fitness as a common hobby or interest, the discussion here can be about any big or little thing you choose. The mods ask that you do mind the Cardinal Rules as they relate to respecting yourself and others, calling out any scantily clad photos as NSFW, and not asking for medical advice.

I'm restarting going to the gym after some 1.5years away.

Previously, I lifted with a personal trainer for almost 2 years at a private gym, 3x a week, who did all the programming for me. I've since moved quite far away from my old trainer and also my friends who lift.

I've since moved, and the closest trainer that does train powerlifting and has availability is a cool 30 minutes away. I also feel like I actually wouldn't benefit from a trainer at the moment (aside from my anxiety), so I'm not willing to commit to the drive and cost yet.

I'm a very anxious and paranoid person. Like literally it took me 3 weeks to actually trust the safety arms and squat what I knew was a good restarting weight for me.

I'd love to find someone to gym with to mutually spot/check form with, but I don't know how to go about it.

I'll admit that because of my social anxiety and because I hate waiting, I've been going at 9pm - 10pmish, but I almost never see anyone else using free weights or doing any barbell exercises at my gym. I'm happy to go another time, but I know that if someone approached me during my workout I'd probably not enjoy it very much.