/r/Fitness30plus Rules

I started working out recently and noticed that my hip flexor on the left side is much tighter than the right. I

stretch before using the weighted hip flexor machine and when I do it on my right side it’s fine, but on the left I can only go about half way without feeling that instant sting of lactic acid in the muscles. And I get that sting on the first one too

What causes this? What can I do about it to make sure i can work the muscle without hurting myself?

Not sure if anyone can relate. Currently at 30 mins a day of posterior chain mobility work and little progress as I have a desk job. In the process of getting the standing desk thing sorted out.

Former noodle here starting to have some shape.😂 (Mid 30s F)

Id love to add some new glute/bum exercises to my leg day routines and I’d love to hear some suggestions on what worked best for everyone. I’ve always been naturally skinny and thin but I’ve managed to gain some muscle weight hitting the gym the last several months.. I eat more than I did before but some days I definitely still struggle to eat as much as I should but I’m working on it! I just don’t have a huge appetite and I burn a lot of calories even doing my daily routines and walking a lot everywhere I go.

Is it worth it to add an EZ Curl Bar to my home gym? I'm looking to add a little more variety to my home workouts.

Just got back from a fun filled five days with the grandkids. At the end of it, my daughter's boyfriend told her that was an insane amount of activities and that he was going to have to start working out if he was going to keep up with us.

Hey all! I’ve been just fitting in random peloton strength workouts in between my parenting and work duties. What do you think I should work on before the “take my kid to the pool every day” season? (Other than being pale and Irish)

I can carve out about 30min 4x a week if I schedule well. Aesthetics isn’t generally my primary concern — longevity of health and mobility is — but why not use it as a proxy for a month?

I'm 40 and I have lifted on and off for around 12-15 years now. I am 6'3" - 305 pounds and I fluctuate pretty easily between 290-305 for about 10 years now. I originally was over 440 pounds and lost it naturally.

Now that I'm older, it's taking longer for my body to recover, and I stay extremely tired. When I'm at the gym, I am seriously afraid of "lifting my max" because I am afraid of injury, and I don't know if I should push my 40 year old body like I did my 25 year old body.

I do take supplements for joint health, etc. I usually lift 5 to 6 days a week, and walk 2-3 miles a day.

I feel like every exercise I'm doing is 70-80% of what I "could be lifting" to lower my risk of injury, but I know I'm leaving gains, strength, and muscle on the table. I have the mindset of "just lift to maintain the muscle you have" instead of trying to get more muscle/strength which would also lower my body fat percentage.

would love your thoughts.

I’m interesting in lifting 3x per week and running 3x per week.

Interested to hear everyone’s favorite program to combine with other endeavors outside the weight room.

I want to become a freak!

39 F SW 185.6 CW 186.8 I started 75 hard April 1. My diet is not too restrictive, but I must eat at least 90g protein (typically it’s over 100g) and stay under 1700 calories (LoseIt app has this at a deficit for lightly active lifestyle and I’m typically coming in around 1500). I weigh and track everything down to a stick of gum. My diet isnt drastically differently than before but definitely consuming less, selecting protein forward meals/snacks and consuming much less sugar. I workout for at least 45 minutes twice a day. This is a mix of walks, spin classes, strength training classes, Pilates, and yoga when I need a “rest”. Last week I was up 2 lbs! Weighed in at 188! This week I’m still up a pound. How could I possibly eat less and exercise a sh*t ton more, and actually gain weight??

I’m feeling stronger which is enough to keep me going. I wasn’t really concerned about losing a bunch of weight but would have liked to see maybe 10 lbs in the course of 75 days.

I could be NOT exercising and eating whatever I want and staying at this weight though. It’s perplexing! Help me make sense of it please.

*please do not suggest that I’m not honest with my tracking. If anything, I overestimate how much I am consuming when serving size is difficult to calculate accurately.

I'm am trying to set a good cardio and strength training program for myself.

The first two weeks mornings were rough, and honestly got worse as time went on.

My work is flexible. I can get in at 8am, 7:30am 9am...

I have never been a morning person. I'm in the middle of moving before getting married and im exhausted from the weekend. This morning I woke up and I just can't do it.

I'd rather walk my dog and get to work earlier and run after.

But with a partner expectations on availability changes. And we want to have kids eventually so I know that will impact my availability for exercise.

I find myself also losing steam by 1pm if I wake up too early to exercise. Makes my day feel so much longer. And my partner stays up till almost 11pm every night, which is a change for me.

I'm good at keep up cardio, I actually enjoy it. I look forward to it all day. It is like a nice reward to get out all the frustrations of the work day.

The gym is work and going after work is a pita. My dream is when we can afford a home, I'll make a small home gym in the garage. I just need some dumbbells and a place to do pull-ups.

But I don't have much excuse now since my apartment gym is a couple minute walk away.

I guess I'm considering doing things right after work instead.

I hear how some of you wake up at 5am. I would hate myself tbh.

Any advice?

Hey there! I need tips to see what I can do about my weight loss, since I have been eating with a caloric deficit (1300~ 1600~) and haven't lose weight. Maybe advice on what to look for health wise, what tests to asks my doctorcs, etc.

Context: -Im a pretty active person. I swim, roller skate, dance and I'm currently going to the gym to build muscle. -I pretty much only eat whole foods. I do eat a burger or something like that on a weekly basis.

I have seen changes on my body, a little bit more muscle and less belly (yay) but considering the caloric deficit, I think it's no enough. I haven't lose ANY pound, maybe I gained the muscle but still, it's way too little change having in mind the calories.

I'm concerned that something health related may be interfering with my weightloss, so if any of you have tips, let me know pls.

I need help with losing weight I am currently 33M weighing about 250lbs at the moment in time. I am having major issues with my body including reoccurring back spasms, and my left side has more issues than I can count. I don't intend to join a gym at the moment because I do not have the monetary funds to do so. However, I have some weight sets, resistance bands, mountain bike, ropeless jump ropes, and I do plan on joining a bowling summer league (getting paid for a birthday gift/money going back to the person paying for it.)The three problems I am having are physical issues, consistency, and diet. The physical issues include as stated before back spasms, weak knee, and minor issues. The consistency, is I tend to start working out, and stop the second week where I will not continue. Then a few months later, I started again, while the diet was not that great at all, eating fast food every other day, junk food almost all the time, and drinking soda all the time (I was able to fast from it for forty days so I may be able to stop the drinking of soda. On the other hand, sometimes I eat all day or I do not eat anything at all. How can I maintain a consistent workout schedule and a decent diet without hurting myself?

Thank you for all your help it is greatly appreciated!

Sorry for any errors in grammar or spelling (Grammar check is being fussy)

Hello! 38F looking for tips on what I can do to improve the appearance of my stomach at this stage of my fitness journey!

For context: I'm back down to ~130 lbs again (*I’m 5’9”) after I first started gaining weight around 31, peaking at 267 lbs when I was 35-36. I began losing the weight after moving back to the city from the suburbs (and out of my ex’s), thanks to walking everywhere and being unable to afford any hobbies other than a gym membership.

These days, my routine includes running ~25 miles a week + lifting, some crunches and a LOT of walking. While I'm feeling pretty good overall, as you can see, I REALLY need to work on my lower abs.

Appreciate any advice on methods to seriously build muscle in this area or any other tips on how to improve the appearance of my belly!

First post: Balance? Advice welcome

Hey Nutritioners -

This is my first post here - so forgive me if I am missing the mark here.

I have started #75Hard 7 days ago (going well) - I have done a meal plan, and I am prepping today. I will be sticking with the meal plan, likely through the course of the remaining 68 days of this challenge. For those of you unfamiliar with the challenge, it goes like this: 1 - Drink 1 Gallon of flat unflavored water daily 2 - Follow a diet 3 - No Alcohol and No Cheat Days 4 - Perform 2 x 45 minute Workouts per day (one must be outdoors) 5 - Read 10 pages of a non fiction, self improvement book (no audio books) 6 - take a daily progress picture

Here are my stats: 37yrs - 218lbs - 5’11”

My meal plan is as follows:

Morning

• 2 Eggs (from my backyard chickens) over medium (salt & garlic powder)
• 4oz Fat free cottage cheese (plain)
• 3 Jenni-O Turkey sausage links

(One Celsius energy drink) (Macros - 366cals - 38g protein - 17.5g Fat - 9 Carbs)

Lunch Sweet potato & ground turkey hash

• 6oz Turkey (93/7)
• 4 Oz Sweet pots
• 1oz garlic cloves (maybe more, never enough garlic ;)
• 1/4oz butter
• onion
• 2 oz asparagus
• 1oz feta

(Macros - 595 cals - 56protein - 12 fat - 29carb)

Dinner

• Rice, roasted veggies, turkey patties
• 4oz Jasmin or basmati rice
• 4oz Broccoli

-3oz Cauliflower

• 3 oz Zucchini
• 1/2 oz butter
• 1oz feta
• 8oz Ground turkey (salt pepper garlic powder) (93/7)
• 1oz sharp cheddar

(Macros - 683 cals - 54.5 protein - 43fat - 37 carbs)

Supplements: ≈60 cals -2.5g fat

Overall macros - (1600cals - 148.5protein - 75fat - 75 carbs)

Supplements : 5g Creatine Monohydrate daily (Thorne) - 143mg Magnesium (Slow-Mag), 1.7mg 5-MTHF methylated folate (Thorne), 2150mg Omega 3 (Nordic naturals Pro Omega 2000)

Workouts: Morning - 3m hike @ 15-17min/mile - approx 500ft elevation - HR average 135 (45-50 minutes) Evening - Weightlifting - working in some jump rope (ow) & farmers carries - mostly compound lifts superset for with high reps (currently, will mix it up) - HR Average 110 - 45 minutes (15-20 sets) - alternating push/pull days, and working in isolation days)

Sleep: -Bedtime at 11-1130pm

• Wake up 6am

(Previously go to bed at 1-2am wake up at 9-930)

Goals: lose fat, build strength & endurance, complete challenge.

Insight - I am content to eat the same thing every day for the duration of the challenge. Mindset: food is for feeding. After a week, I am tired earlier for sure, if I feel absolutely great during the day.

Questions:

• Do any of you nutrition savvy folks see anything obviously lacking in this meal plan?
• supplement suggestions?
• salt for electrolytes? Do I need to worry about this drinking a gal?

If this is the wrong forum for this, any advice is appreciated!!

Thank you!!

I read a lot of posts on here about people who have made incredible comebacks after being out of shape/not working out for a long time and I’m always so impressed.

One thing I’ve noticed is that some people swear by the method of cardio first (I’ve seen people say 8-12 weeks of it), then moving on to a balance of weights and cardio once the weight starts to come off.

The other method I’ve seen discussed quite often is immediately getting into strength training (5x5, Starting Strength, etc.) with some cardio, but with more focus on weights.

I’ve read success stories with both of these used. Just curious which any of you use and why you chose to do that instead of the other (or something else)? If you used something other than one of these two methods, what did you go with that helped you get back into shape and/or lose weight?

An out of shape, regularly paralyzed by analysis 41 year old male is curious.

Hi guys, I turn 40 this year and due to a MCL injury, I've pretty much stopped playing football. This has resulted in me tightening up everywhere, I can't touch my toes anymore.

I do occasionally go to yoga, but it's not practical at the moment to go to classes regularly for the next 12 months or so.

I'm looking for a simple 30 minute flexibility routine I can do at home while watching TV.

I go to the gym in the evenings, so this flexibility will be after I've showered and had a bit of protein, maybe an hour after Ive worked out. Is that safe? How about after leg day?

Thanks 🙏

Hey All,

With all the info online it’s very hard to tell which one to do first. Some people say eat near maintenance for a recomp but I know that’s a long route. I need to lose about 30 pounds of fat, but I don’t want to lose my strength gains over the past year

All input is helpful.

So I’m working on counting calories to lose some fat, I have a few stupid questions. To start I’ll say I track how much I burn through my Apple Watch, on an active day I burn ~3400 calories and inactive ~2400. I don’t wear my watch when I sleep but is it even worth counting those for what I should intake?

Has anyone experienced this? I am gaining muscle on my right arm, but I’ve noticed now that in certain positions, my hand will start to tingle and lose feeling. If I am holding something, it’ll drop out of my hand. I am not sure if the muscle is pushing on nerves?

So after having kids I let myself go a bit. Or a lot. I’m 6 foot 6 and went from 360 to about 310 just by dieting and cutting out snacks. But then I really started working out properly over the past couple of months and dropped down to about 285. I feel like the last 20 pounds or so has been a real battle. I know I’m adding muscle but I was still expecting a bit more weight loss.

I do weights every other day and on off days I usually do some cardio, sit ups etc. I usually eat twice a day, 3 eggs (fried or hard boiled) and some carbs (toast with butter or paratha usually). Sometimes I have this twice a day or I have chicken and brown rice, that kind of thing. If I got hungry in between I’d snack on some raw almonds or dried chick peas.

But lately I’m starving all the time. Eating one meal tides me over for maybe 2 hours tops before I’m hungry again. I’m taking in maybe 1200 to 1500 calories a day which I know is a not a lot, especially at my size. So with my weight loss slowing down dramatically (which I know does happen as you lose weight) I’m tempted to cut back on food, but I also don’t want to lose any muscle I’ve added.

Anyone have any thoughts? Am I eating too much or not enough?

Not sure whether to bulk or cut, nor whether to increase cardio. Purpose: Better aesthetics

What are you guys running?

I’m looking for something new. I usually run an upper/lower or 5/3/1.