Been doing running (jogging) alternate mornings for a while now, building up at a slow pace to 20 mins unbroken.

I don't enjoy it tbh, but giving up seems massively self defeating.

People say you should be at a pace where you can still talk. I don't think that's the case. I'm not huffing and puffing like an elephant, but every so often I have to breathe out through the mouth not just the nose (somewhere I read that being able to rely on inhale/exhale nasally was a good measure of pace). My heart rate at the end is about 95bpm, which certainly isn't the danger zone (i'm 52).

But honestly, I find this way of exercising, personally, a chore. I don't want to just quit though (and cycling isn't option beacue I don't own a bike)

A year ago I weighed 168 pounds. I was just trying to go to the gym once a week. I tracked protein but I didn't track calories.

Today I weigh 152 pounds. I workout 6 days a week, it's mostly bodyweight exercises like pull ups, dumbbell stuff, and I do kickboxing once a week. I continue to track protein and now track calories to maintain a calorie deficit.

The plan is to start a lean bulk in March to gain some strength and some more muscle. One of my goals this year is to do a muscle up, I'm getting really close!

So that's me in past, present, and future!

So... I'm not sure if this should go here or in r/relationship_advice but here we go.

I'm 34 m and this year is going to be my year to drop the extra pounds "dad bod" and get back in the shape I was before baby number 1 (she's 7).

My SO 31 f (we're engaged so Wife/Fiancée is used interchangeably), has also "made it her goal" to lose the baby fat, we had her first, my second, 3 years ago. However she's only going to the gym once or twice a week and most of that time is spent in a massage chair as she is too scared to do anything close to weightlifting without me there. Ie. she doesn't want to bother staff and she doesn't trust all of the "influencers" on the internet <-- not a bad choice imo but gym staff is a pretty safe bet.

Now I struggle with losing weight because I LOVE sweets. She knows this. And is constantly buying junk food, baking, alcohol (something she struggles with) and is always pushing me to eat stuff I don't want to, even after saying I'm at my calorie limit for the day. It's exhausting. Any tips on what I can do here? Really on just how I can explain why staying within my calorie limit is so important and caving in to junk food could easily ruin mine, and her, goals.

I am 33 M and started running 6 months back, been actively playing other sports as well. One thing that I constantly get called for is trying to be fit. Although I realised one big problem was that I used to share the activities on Instagram. I was mocked for it and was constantly being asked whether I was Ok as if something tragic happened with me that I started opting for fitness and gave away Non veg eating, smoking and liquor. I don't know how to react to someone calling me out for posting activities online? I have already dropped Instagram posting completely but I don't get it why I get hate for doing that?

End of 2021, I had fallen off by a lot. I was close to 220lbs, lost my job due to covid, had a long-term relationship end, and was overly stressed, depressed, and anxious. This lead to a few months of starving from depression, which got me down about 40lbs.

In February of 2022, I decided I didn't like myself and said I was going to work out everyday for at least an hour. I've kept that promise to myself and while somethings improved, it wasn't until this past summer I decided to really dial in my nutrition and up my workouts a lot.

July of 2024, I started tacking with MyFitnessPal and recomped for a few months, but it wasn't until I started MacroFactor that I reached my best results in October. However, the low-fat diet had me crash pretty hard in terms of mood swings and hunger. Since I started eating more, I upped my workouts to hopefully turn that fuel into more muscle. I miss looking leaner, but not how it made me feel.

I want to start another mini cut soon , just to see what's underneath currently. But I'm happy that I've made progress and gained more strength. Consistency (obsession) and time has been the best method. A big thanks to r/fitness30plus for inspiration.

1/25/22 180lbs

7/18/24 160lbs

10/13/24 150.5lbs

1/25/25 160lbs

I've been working out for a good 6 months now on and off and I want to get my nutrition under control so I can do a little cut as best/safely as I can.

I was wondering if there is any way to figure out what my maintenance calories are at this stage. Most of the advice I see online is to track intake and then weigh yourself.

Is it possible to figure this out without using a set of scales? I don't/can't own a set currently and will be unable to for another probably 6-12 months

I don’t do intermittent fasting or carnivore or anything extreme like that. My key, if I had one, is consistency to the point of being boring. I eat the same thing every day for the most part. Oatmeal for breakfast, add PB2 powder and cranberries, 5 hard boiled eggs about an hour after that, followed by a protein shake. For lunch it’s chicken (dark meat), brown nice, fajita veggies, pinto beans. Dinner is chicken again (breasts) with veggie pasta. I usually have about one to two “cheat meals” per week.

Lifting wise, I do the same lifts every week (2 days on, 1 day off) with progressive overload. I do 4 sets for every exercise. For squats, seated rows, dumbbell press, leg press, I never go above 8 reps. Other exercises I never go above 15 reps.

So, fell short of a Weight goal by approx. 4 lbs today. Felt pretty bummed, decided to book a day off work and take a minute to calm down. I’ve decided to look at the plus side of things. Overall, it’s been a pretty decent year. In the past 11 months, I’ve dropped approx. 70lbs. I feel better in basically every aspect of life. Took on a new role at work this year, and it’s seemingly going pretty well. Beginning to look at future fitness goals past just the number on the scale. That number is still very important to me - but overall health, strength and overall happiness is at an all time high. I’m now going to go home, hit the vape pen and play some fetch with the Pups. Not a bad way to enter a nice little stretch off work. Cheers.

TLDR: I'm constantly uncomfortable. Looking for advice on muscle recovery to help with discomfort while building muscle to fix scapular winging.

Hello! I stared physical therapy a month ago to work on an issue with my shoulders, (winged scapula, so weak muscles causing a ton of discomfort across upper back & neck). I need to get the muscles strengthened to get back to normal but it's a bit of a "it gets worse before it gets better" situation. I have daily workouts from physical therapy & the muscles get fatigued & tight & all things that cause discomfort on top of the discomfort. The key is consistency & patience, I totally get that, but I'm hoping to find something to help speed up the muscle recovery so I'm at least a little less uncomfortable during the process.

I've been looking into Creatine to see if that might help but I was hoping to get some perspective from actual people who have used it. Any other advice welcome. Thank you all!

Things I'm already doing:

Daily water goals to stay hydrated.

Warming up before workouts & cooling down after.

Monthly appointment with massage therapist.

Increased daily protein.

Stretching.

Plenty of sleep.

It has been over a year since I’ve gone to the gym or ran and definitely the most out of shape I’ve ever been in my life (33M, 5’11 and 215 pounds. Before COVID and still in shape, I was between 175-180 lbs). Long story short, I dislocated my knee playing soccer 3 years ago. Running and workouts have not been the same since.

Going from running 5+ miles 5 days a week and playing soccer twice a week to barely being able to run 1 mile without pain has been depressing especially being a natural runner (used to run half marathons 2 days a week in my early 20’s on top of soccer).

So, I’m looking for good year round alternatives to running, preferably at home until work situation changes (almost 2 hour commute).

Also, feel free to share your story for inspiration please. Being prior military, this will give me some motivation and stop the self pity I’m feeling.

ETA: Had half my lateral meniscus removed and significant tears on 3 ligaments in that dislocated knee. Consistent impact, sharp cuts and enormous amounts of weight (AKA squats) do not feel great.

When I was younger I used to be able to do about 10 pullups (though probably not perfect form) at 6”1’ 220 lbs. Now I am older and 275 lbs.

I obviously can’t even do one pullup now. I’m just trying to hang and do negatives. The problem is I can only tolerate the pain in my hands for about 15 seconds. It’s not that my grip is weakening. I feel like I could hold on longer if I really wanted to, it just hurts and the pain forces me to let go.

Could it be that the pipe is too small? The problem is it feels like it’s digging into my bones no matter how I adjust my grip. I tried putting insulation around the pipe, but that makes it too soft and too big to grip comfortably. I would like to be able to hang for a minute without such pain in my hands.

Hi friends, I was hoping to find an accountability partner(s). I was in fantastic shape until about 2 years ago when my gym closed and I slowly let things slide. I've tracked my macros on and off for years. I'm a decent cook (and willing to share recipes) I have an active job and average 13,000 steps a day. I have a modest home gym and a large yard to do "weird" things like walking lunges without creating a spectacle of myself. I know what to do, I'm just not putting in the effort. The last year of my life has felt heavy with grief and I'm 12-15 pounds heavier than I would like to be. I thought making a new friend might help? What's the worst that could happen? Thanks for your consideration.

The inflammation and water weight always follows an intense workout. I can only workout 3X times a week due to this. The thing is now I’m much stronger than when I started and I feel my body crave exercise more. Have to force myself to take rest days. Is this normal, any tips for reducing this effect? I tried working out 4-5 times a week and looked heavy. When i go 3-5 days without a workout, I see more results…

Sometimes I cannot tell whether I’m hungry or I’m just craving something to eat. I’m a fairly smallish person (36F, 126 lbs, 5’7), so I’m wondering if these are signs that my body truly needs more.

I eat a fairly balanced diet. Breakfast contains proteins and healthy carb, lunch is usually a large portion of veggies, healthy carb and protein, dinner is similar to lunch but larger protein and carb. And in between I snack plenty. I do two hiit and two hot yoga workouts per week.

But sometimes I feel ravenous. Like I want to eat a second meal because I’m starving again just an hour later. Like my snacks never suffice.

Do I indulge in this hunger? Or do I practice self discipline and not give in? Anyone face a similar scenario?

I feel like what I’m looking for is super simple: Macro tracking Ability to log calories burned from exercise A relatively reliable index of common foods for quick look up

It’s that simple! I haven’t found anything I like though and don’t want to revert to LoseIt just because it’s already on my phone :/

I’ve been lifting for 20+ years at 42 and I feel like I’m at the edge of my genetic limit. At 5’7”+ and 165lbs, I’m lean (around 15% bf) and bench 365lbs (have hit 440 before), squat 405+ (have hit 525 before) and deadlift 500+ (have hit 605 before) but I don’t do much strength work for the last two lifts anymore.

I’ve been doing a Push/Pull/Legs split for some time, but I’m not getting much out of it lately.

Example Push:

Incline DB for 4x8-12

Overhead 4x8-12

Weighted Dips 4x8-12

Lateral Raises 4x12-15

JM Press 4x8-10

Overhead Triceps Ext 4x12-15

The other two days have the same volume levels.

I workout 6 days a week, PPLPPL, one day off, and restart.

Am I overdoing it? I’m still making small gains, but I feel tired all of the time, despite eating well (2500 cals/day) and getting 7-8 hours of sleep every night.

What’s working for y’all?

Does anyone know the name of or knows who makes bars like a safety squat bar for a smith machine? I have an AC joint impingement and my shoulder mobility sucks.

Hi all, 36F here. I’ve been an athlete my whole life. Always been in the gym, and lived an overall healthy lifestyle. I’ve been into ORC racing, competed in 2 body building shows (glad I did it but decided it wasn’t my sport) and recently discovered Hyrox races that is my next goal. The problem- I’ve hit a wall with anything related to working out or even wanting to eat healthy. This has NEVER happened to me. I have zero desire to train. Normally I’m good at pushing myself when I struggle but I can’t even get past this. Has anyone else experienced something similar? If so, how long did it take you and how did you overcome it?

I’m working nights and there is a ton of down time. What can I do to get in cardio without jumping? Any workout routine or advice is welcome!

I know I can’t ignore the rest of my body, but I really want to focus on my glutes. So what does that look like? More leg days during the week than core/upper body (e.g. 3 leg days, 2 upper body)? Or should I do a mix each day with more minutes dedicated to glutes? What do YOU do?