For example, the other day one of my friends who doesn’t workout told me that I am “sneaky jacked” 😭. He didn’t mean it in a rude way but I was wondering if anyone else has had similar comments like this.

I recently joined a gym with a sauna. There are no rules and regulations on clothing requirements and such aside from users must sit on a towel. Being my first time in a sauna, what is the general clothing etiquette? Disrobe completely, shorts, shorts and shirt? I typically workout late at night so I’ve never seen anyone else using the sauna. I’ve been a member for 2 months.

Thanks for helpful comments!

I have been working out for about 4 months now. There's definitely progress, but not in the way I was expecting. Instead of growing wider or longer, my biceps just make a very tall bump in the middle of my upper arm. I have very long limbs if that has anything to do with it, idk. Does anyone know why this happens and what exercises or stretches I should be doing?

I tried the bench press for the first time but I couldn’t even do one set. I didn’t even put any weights on the bar because I wanted to test it out first but I could barely hold on to it. I don’t understand how anyone can do these at all and I was left humiliated and upset

Mine has been a tie between bench and standing overhead press. I love seeing the progress I’ve made on those lifts

Recently, I've decided to switch from weight lifting to calisthenics. I just want to know if it gets any easier because it feels almost impossible. With weight lifting, as long as you train consistently, you will be able to see progress in just a few weeks minimum, but calisthenics is another story. You can't really train hard like you would do with weight lifting because you get injured, which sets you back even further. Please give me the best advice.

how to ACTUALLY make building muscle and gaining strength SIMPLE for BEGINNER LIFTERS? (There is so much information out there on the internet by many different people, especially a bunch of conflicting information by different fitness influencers, about what you should and should not be doing for building muscle and strength. It is honestly so daunting for me to figure out what I should actually do.) How do I know what actually works and what is all that I really need to do for good enough results?

F31 lactose intolerant and trying to stay on top of my protein intake. I'm obsessed with eating oatmeal with a scoop of protein powder in the mornings. Have been using dymatize iso100 which I tolerate with no problems. Tried Ghost for the first time, and while it has lactase in the ingredients, maybe not enough was added? It definitely affected me, and I had to take extra lactaid with breakfast to make it through the container 😅

Curious what other options are out there. Doesn't have to be vegan, i'm cool with animal products, but i'm obviously not opposed to anything plant-based if it helps me hit my goals without making me feel sick 😵‍💫 thanks in advance!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cp-8zRZuMJS/?obrf=MWVlM2l6bmQ1dWxmcQ==

Saw this video and was wondering if this is really true. I want to bias my upper chest and have been using this machine. But this video says it doesn't bias the upper chest. Should I switch to low to high cable flies instead?

I struggle a lot with gaining weight

For context: My maintenance is around 3200 im 6’4” and have soccer/football 5-7 days a week go to the gym and am very active. I try to eat as much as possible and either I get full to quick or don’t have much time throughout the day to get all of my calories. I also try to eat relatively clean because if I eat too much processed food or things like that I don’t feel great during the day.

I started my fitness journey this April (27M, 176cm). I was 115kg and have managed to drop down to 94kg so far, and my ultimate goal is to reach around 15% body fat.

However, I've been running into a mental wall lately. Because of some stress and emotional triggers, I sometimes find myself giving in at night and sneaking some nuts or other snacks. When that happens, seeing the scale fluctuate or feeling like my days of "clean eating" were wasted really messes with my head. It makes me feel super guilty and anxious.

Since I'm still relatively new to this, I wanted to ask the more experienced folks here:

1. How do you keep your mental health in check when the scale fluctuates or when you have a slip-up?

   1. How do you deal with night-time cravings or the guilt that comes after? Any advice or perspective would be hugely appreciated!

I’ve been working out for a min now and haven’t made too much progress on my back. I used to go to the gym a lot but now I’ve switched to home workouts and the only thing I have for my back is a Pullup bar. Is that still good for trying to achieve a wider and thicker back? I do different variations of pull-ups like wide grip and close grip but is there any other workouts I can do whether it’s calisthenics or with weights that can help. I have some dumbbells and a ez bar, I don’t know if that’s good or if there’s anything I can with those.

I’m the most ADHD riddled person I know, and while I am medicated for it, by the time I get to my late night after work gym sessions, my dosage has more than worn off. This makes it exceptionally hard for me to not get distracted while I’m lifting and especially while I’m doing stationary cardio like the assault bike or rowing machine.

Has anyone ever tried no risk stationary cardio blindfolded? I feel like I would be able to make it through the sessions way easier if I were to not look at the time on the machine, but instead blindfold myself completely and set my workout to the tempo of pre-chosen songs that fit the pace of what I want to accomplish on those machines.

Before you ask: I have tried closing my eyes but too much ambient lighting from the fluorescents still leaks through. I think I want total blackout, near total outside sensory stimulus.

Am I crazy? Is there merit to this?

I often struggle to meet my daily protein requirement, which is 120 g. Some days, I only get 80, 90, or even 70 g of protein. Sometimes, I go an entire week without meeting my daily target.
Will this affect my muscle growth?

I see a lot of gym people eating super healthy, but my cravings feel unbreakable, I ussually dont even feel hungry when i eat, and its been getting worse and worse, can anyone help? (im 13 btw)

I am planning to buy a mass gainer. I don't know much about mass gainers, and I am underweight for my age. Is taking a mass gainer a good decision? Also, opinion on GNC mass gainers?

30M, 167 cm, 68kgs.

I have significant fat around my waist. I am trying to body recomp with 10-15% deficit.

Waist 90 cm
Chest 89 cm
Bicep 29 cm
Neck 39 cm

Desk job. I workout 3 times a week. Is this a correct macros and calorie distribution?

Protein 173 g, carbs 172 g, fat 66 g. Total intake 1974 cal.

Also, i couldn’t exactly calculate my maintenance calories.

Thanks heaps.

Hi all! Im wondering if you have recommendations for good strength training program apps. I run about 2-3 times a week and swim 2 times a week. Additionally, I strength train about 4 times a week but dont really have a good plan or structure. Do you have any recs for an app I can set goals in, days, etc? Thanks!

I'm 31F. I was very active and strong as a kid (I even had a four pack at 12 lol) but lost confidence in my body after middle school and I've been sedentary since. I also have back and glute pain from (mild-mod) scoliosis.

I've tried to get started a few times over the last 15 years, joining gyms or starting home routines. I finally went to a personal trainer for like 7 months, going 2-3 times a week. I went up a couple lbs in weights (minimal, like 5 lbs to 8 lbs) but otherwise felt no different. I had to stop because it got too expensive and I didn't continue on my own because I was discouraged from lack of progress. I also developed knee pain (I think from bad form doing squats and lunges).

I especially want to strengthen my core, back, and glutes because I worry about my back pain worsening as I age. But most beginner core exercises I do just hurt my back because I can't even figure out how to engage my core properly. I also don't know how to engage my glutes.

In an ideal world I'd love to be visibly muscular but I feel like that's a pipe dream. At this point I just want to not be totally out of shape. I'm thin so I'm not looking to lose weight, I just want to be able to engage my muscles properly, challenge myself without hurting myself, and keep up with it. I feel like I'm running out of time.

If I feel mentally and maybe even physically able to go do my session again does that mean I didn’t do it properly/hard enough?

For example im sore and tired right now but I could probably go push my normal weights if I really wanted to so I feel like I need to go back to the gym and do a tiny bit more?

I’ve been going to the gym for years, but I’ve never been able to make real progress because my body takes forever to recover.
Whenever I push myself a little harder, I end up with pain and exhaustion. And I’m not just talking about normal muscle soreness, but sometimes general body pain that takes days to go away or low energy.
I see people working out 5–6 times a week, waking up at 5 a.m., and having so much energy. I’ve tried doing the same, but I just end up completely drained.
For context, I’m 37F, work a regular 9–5 job, have a side hustle, and don’t have kids. I count macros, eat enough protein, drink water, and take supplements. I feel like I’m doing everything right, but my energy levels have always been low.
I really want to be consistent, get stronger, and make progress, but I feel like my body can’t keep up.
Does anyone else relate? Has anyone figured out what causes this or found something that actually helps with energy and recovery?