I do strength training 5 days a week, walk 15k steps a day at work, im 5'10 234 lb male 30 yrs old. On tdee calculator with it adjusted to moderately active, it says my maintenance is 3100 and a 500 deficit from that is 2600 which seems like a lot of calories to me. What should it be? Any advice? Thanks.

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I’ve lost around 70 pounds in 2 years. What’s still strange is that despite hitting gym for 4 times a week, while calculating calories and weighing everything I eat. It’s always post my run days that I end up losing more fat. I’m 28f, 5’8 and 167 pounds. Still trying to lose around 20 lbs more, and develope more muscle mass. However, I just wanna ask if there’s a lotta people out there for whom cardio works more than weight training?

Hi everyone,

I’m contemplating if I should start taking creatine.

What is your experience with it?

How big is the weight gain through water vs. the increase in strength and performance?

I’m already taking Vitamin D3, Zink and fish oil.

I’m also thinking about Magnesium Glycinate.

Thanks for you advice :)!

I don’t really carry that much but I hate going to machines and having to figure out where to put my phone, towel, wallet, etc. Does anyone have recommendations for a good gym bag that’s sorta small?

I’ve been skipping rope for a month (2,000–5,000 daily) and recently added 4×15 squats.

My quads are now extremely sore and taking longer than expected to recover.

Is this normal, or am I overdoing it? How can I recover faster, and should I adjust my routine?

ive tried too google this, and it doesnt quite seem too understand what i mean. I dont care about how i look, i dont even really care about calories or general fitness or whatever, but i like how it feels painful afterwards, and exhaustion helps me sleep. i realise this i kinda a backwards question, but what should i do too maximise that. [i dont have much space and the heaviest weight i own[and frankly the heaviest i can pick up safely**😭**] is 10 kg] . sore arms and legs are ideal.

[oh also im very technically disabled, and i cant do super coordinated things, and my joints are weak and fragile, but i doubt thatll matter 🤞[cant sit down properly, is that relevant?]]

ps. should i use heavy weights, or lighter weights for longer?

I am a male, 175 cm tall, 30 years old with Asian roots, which I believe may influence my genetics and possibly contribute to the challenges I’m facing with my physique.

I have been training consistently for many years, but unfortunately, I have seen very little progress. Despite eating a high number of calories, my body weight increases only very slowly, and most of the fat I gain tends to accumulate around my stomach. Overall, I would describe myself as “skinny fat.”

In the gym, I struggle to make progress in strength. Even when I reach a point where I can perform 12 full repetitions with a certain weight, increasing the load becomes extremely difficult, and my repetitions drop significantly. For example, on lat pulldowns, I have been stuck at 50 kg for a very long time without any improvement.

I also get tired very quickly, and my strength endurance is quite poor. Especially during exercises like bench press or pulling movements, I run out of energy fast and cannot maintain my performance.

Because of these ongoing struggles and my dissatisfaction with my appearance, I have started to feel increasingly frustrated and even ashamed of how I look. I strongly want to become more muscular and stronger, which has led me to consider the possibility of using steroids as a way to finally achieve the progress I’ve been unable to reach naturally.

What do you think about this? What am i doing wrong? Should i perhaps go for more repetitions instead of forcefully trying to increase the weight? (Instead of setting goals of 12 repetitions, doing like 15-20?)

Or should i actually just start a cycle?

I’ve been skipping rope for a month (2,000–5,000 daily) and recently added 4×15 squats.

My quads are now extremely sore and taking longer than expected to recover.

Is this normal, or am I overdoing it? How can I recover faster, and should I adjust my routine?

I currently train my Biceps twice a week on back & bi days - on these days i will do:

Rack pulls

Barebell row

Close grip pull down

Pull Ups

Concentration curls

Hammer curls

Im conscious though im not isolating the long head of the bicep?

So am I better adding incline curls in too and having the 3 curl variation?

Or am I hitting some bicep heads by doing the rows etc

Thank you

Hey r/askfitness,

I’m 184 cm (6'0") tall and currently weigh 61.2 kg. I’ve always been very skinny and my posture (rounded shoulders + forward head / upper back kyphosis) makes me look even smaller and weaker. I took these three photos in natural light so you can judge the real situation.

Be honest:

• Is 61.2 kg too low for my height and frame?
• How much healthy weight/muscle do you think I should aim to gain to improve posture, fill out my shoulders/chest and look more proportional?

Extra question: I’ve read that being quite underweight can lower testosterone levels and negatively affect sex drive / libido. Has anyone here noticed a noticeable improvement in sex drive after bulking up from a similar starting point and fixing posture?

I’m ready to start a proper bulk with training. Any advice on:

• Realistic calorie surplus and macros to start with?
• Best beginner routine that also corrects posture (rows, face pulls, dead hangs, wall angels, etc.)?
• How long until I might see visible changes in shoulders/back and possibly in libido/energy?

Thanks a lot in advance — really appreciate any experienced input!

Finished the deficit, been on maintenance for 5 weeks but my weight keeps slowly trending up. First week on maintenance 59.70kg, then each week after 60.03kg → 60.18 → 60.26 → now ~60.5kg.

Protein is high, What’s confusing me is I still feel hungry (morning + before bed), which makes me doubt I’m actually in a surplus.

Is this just water/glycogen still settling even after 5 weeks, or am I likely slightly overeating? And how to deal with the hunger bcoz if I dropped cals I’d be even more hungry.

.

So since I can remember, some exercesise, mainly the ones that involves lifting my legs are way more intense on my lower back then my abs, so I need to stop before my abs would make me to sop, because it hurts much more in my lower back. I noticed it in these exercises: russian twist, leg raises (knee raises seems okay), flutter kicks / scissors, cocoon, etc… Can it be because of weak abs (I noticed I have a hard time compressing my abs and keeping my back pressed against the ground), or maybe tight hip (sitting job)? My lower back strenght is good, at least my PT said it, but I think so too, at least I don’t have a problem with deadlifts and stuff. Any idea would be welcome, as it is very annoying to stop ab exercises because of back pain.

I want to meal prep for the week . Google obviously say that eating chicken cold after cooking only lasts 3 days. Does any here eat cooked chicken cold after it been in the fridge for 6 days???? And had no problem? My lunch meal prep is cous cous, chicken and cucumber

Ideally:

Vegan

Low sugar

Protein >20g

Currently doing OWYN

Thanks!! 😊

For the ones that work out at home especially women, if you want to build your lower body what exercises should you do?

We hear a lot of the standard recovery advice, but we are curious what folks here have actually found works in real life for reducing DOMS while progressing in the gym… other than lying to yourself that tomorrow won’t be worse?

I take EAA when i do weight training, cardio day no EAA

🔴 Push Day

Focus: chest, shoulders, triceps

• Bench Press – 3–4 sets (6–10 reps)
• Incline Dumbbell Press – 3 sets (8–12 reps)
• Shoulder Press (machine or dumbbell) – 3 sets (8–12 reps)
• Lateral Raises – 3 sets (12–15 reps)
• Tricep Pushdowns – 3 sets (10–15 reps)
• Optional: Dips – 2–3 sets

🔵 Pull Day

Focus: back, rear delts, biceps

• Deadlift (optional heavy) – 3 sets (4–6 reps)
• Pull-Ups or Lat Pulldown – 3–4 sets (6–12 reps)
• Barbell or Cable Row – 3 sets (8–12 reps)
• Face Pulls – 3 sets (12–15 reps)
• Bicep Curls – 3 sets (10–15 reps)
• Hammer Curls – 2–3 sets

🟢 Leg Day

Focus: quads, hamstrings, glutes

• Squats – 3–4 sets (5–10 reps)
• Leg Press – 3 sets (10–15 reps)
• Romanian Deadlift – 3 sets (8–12 reps)
• Leg Curl – 3 sets (10–15 reps)
• Calf Raises – 4 sets (12–20 reps)

Twice a week, i have been lifting for 2 years now and barely made any progress. I was doing PPL once a week, but a different plan then this one