r/bodyweightfitness

Hey everyone!

I'm 23 M, 63 KG weight, 181 cm height and I'm about to join a gym for the first time in my life next week. Although I'm eager for this, I'm also a bit afraid if other gym bros would mock me for doing stuff wrongly...

A bit about myself:

I'm a big introvert, a vegetarian (would eat egg) and an overthinker (reason for me writing this post). I'm very skinny (you can even see and count my ribs) and probably weak. I can't even do one pushup correctly. The max dumbbell weight I can lift for 10 reps is 5 kg in each hand

Since I've never ever touched a gym equipment in my life, I'm worried if I would do things wrongly or hurt myself and get made fun of by other people in the gym. The gym owner asked me if I have experience using the gym machines and if not she said she can arrange for a trainer but that would cost extra. Because of the cost, I have decided not and go through with only normal gym fees. Is this a mistake? should I need a trainer? Or can I just watch YouTube and learn how to operate the machines properly and on what workouts I should do?

Sorry for yapping too much

`I’ve noticed that many high-level calisthenics athletes tend to focus heavily on one category of static skills.

For example, some specialize in pushing skills like planche and maltese, while rarely training pulling skills seriously. Others do the opposite, focusing on front lever or victorian and neglecting pushing work.

Why is this the case?

Is it due to nervous system fatigue or recovery limitations? Are these skills too demanding to train together at a high level? Does specialization significantly improve progress speed? And most importantly: doesn’t this create muscle imbalances and increase injury risk in the long term?

Wouldn’t it be better to train both push and pull equally for balance and joint health?`

Longtime lurker here - a couple months ago I set myself a goal of being able to do pull ups and have been working up to them by doing bar hangs. I do 5 sets of set time increments, alongside my regular run and outdoor gym use 3 times a week.

I feel like my back and upper arms are getting stronger and I was really stoked to find I could hang stabley with my shoulders back engaged and even pull myself up a fraction!

However, I simply cannot hold it for more than 15 seconds. In the beginning my grip was wrong (giving me blisters because I was wrapping my palm around the bar) so I changed that and have done it correctly ever since, but my hands simply cannot hold it even if my arms and back are fine. I've been stuck on 15 seconds for about a month now and I've even had to cut it down to 10 seconds a few times, even with breaks and stretching.

I'm feeling disheartened because I'm on the heavier side and it makes me feel like I'm just too fat to be exercising. Working out at the outdoor gym is already stressful enough because people stare, and though I've lost a couple kilos over the last few months from running, being active, watching my diet etc. it's really humiliating to see people smirk at me for not being able to hold myself up for very long.

Does anyone have any suggestions for exercises I can do at home so I can build up my grip strength please?

I’ve been working out for a long time and have a pretty good base to work with, but I’m always looking to get stronger and want some honest feedback on how I’m training.

Currently I do calisthenic with upper body focus: 5 sets 6 reps weighted pull-ups 5 sets 6 reps pseudo planche push ups 5 sets 6 reps weighted dips

Since I’ve been good about consistency with those, I’m thinking to add in farmer’s carries, too (carry half my weight in each hand and walk for about 5 minutes).

I work my legs, core and cardio separately, so this is only for upper body strength.

Would you say this is a safe enough routine for strength, or is there something pretty major i’m leaving out?

I'm brand new here and I am 12 years old. I need some help trying out some new workouts! I want to go to a gym but I can't untill I turn 13. I would love if anyone could give me some workout schedules or workouts for me to try! I do horse riding and run every night so I am pretty fit I would just like to get stronger.

I only weigh about 35-40kgs and can't gain weight cus I have a VERY fast metabolism 😕 I dont know if this affects any workouts you guys can share but please I would love the help!!

If your goal is achieving clean, strict muscle-ups, how should you approach your pull-up training to best support that? Specifically, I’m wondering about scapular positioning throughout the movement.

Do you focus more on maintaining retraction and depression or do you allow some degree of protraction at certain phases to better mimic the transition of a muscle-up? I’ve seen strong arguments for both approaches, but it’s not entirely clear which one has the best carryover to a smooth, strict rep.

Curious what actually worked for you in practice, and what changes made the biggest difference in your progress.

I've had back pain and anterior pelvic tilt for most of my life due to excessive sitting playing video games and just general life. The past year or so I have been trying to reverse the effects of all this sitting on my body by doing barbell rdls for posterior chain strength and stretching my hip flexors. I have also been doing core work like hollow body holds and hanging knee raises. I have seen pretty good results and have had a very noticeable decrease in back pain - it used to hurt if I stood or walked slowly for too long - to where it's not something I notice at all really anymore.

Although my apt has improved and my posture in general is not as curved as it used to be, I recently began to think that although I feel like my core is relatively strong, I feel like my superficial ab muscles are overcompensating for my weak transverse abdominis and are not letting me properly develop this muscle.

I have watched some videos and read about it but I can't seem to really activate my ta without my rectus abdominis taking over and not allowing me to properly work the deeper core muscles.

What are some of the most basic exercises I can start with and cues to help me activate my ta?

I think the l sit is hard and a lot of people can’t do it, but online, people say “it’s soo easy” quite often and it’s lowkey discouraging since it’s taking me like 3weeks to do it with my legs straight for only about 2 secs. So my questions are

Also I can guess some of you might say not to compare myself to others as for this exact reason but I compare myself more with admiration for what someone has accomplished so it isn’t unhealthy in a way lol

Is L sit easy for you?

How long might it take to get a 10sec L sit?

my current routine is divided in 3 main parts

1. skill work(warm up before it ofc)
2. street lifting
3. bodybuilding hypertrophy work

i train 6 days a week with this exact program and alternate between push and pull for calisthenics part and push pull leg for bodybuilding part

for skills im training handstand and muscle up for now(can hold 3-5 sec of handstand and 2-3 reps of band assisted muscle ups)

for street lifting its mainly 3-4 sets of dips and pull ups

would like to know the flaws also should i add a day for endurance where i do basics (my pull up count is not increasing lately :( )

I'm 180pounds 5'5 and work as a medical receptionist so I'm struggling to find time to get movement in as I wake up at 7:30 go to work at 7:45 work to 4pm and then don't sleep till like 1-2am, I'm just trying to figure out what like workouts I could start doing at home to get myself moving, I did drink 3-4 bottles/cans of coke a day I'm not cutting this out only with water nothing else, and no longer eating past 8pm, I'm eating 12-8pm usually 1 meal for lunch at 12:25-12:45 and 1 dinner around 5-5:30, keeping myself around 1.5-2k calories, but I'm not really excerising espically with a desk job I'm maybe getting 2k steps a day, what can I do at home to start losing this weight I'm mainly trying to focus on losing the fat on my chest/face and man boobs I know you can't directly target muscles but I'm just looking for a guide of where to start with at home excerises to start losing this weight cause I know all this calorie drops are worthless if I don't actually burn it

Hi. Does anyone here have a favorite online class or trainer you work with for live sessions? Appreciate your recommendations.

I’ve been wanting to go to a trainer for some time and finally have the opportunity to get this into my schedule. Maybe you have someone you can recommend?

I am new to body weight, fitness and believe in the great benefits to it.

I would prefer to connect on Zoom or something similar rather than an app if possible.

What benefits have you gotten from working with a trainer or in a group online?

Big thanks.

Hey everyone,

Okay, so I know this might sound insane to some, but I'm struggling with really losing the last few KG's of fat on my belly to reach my desired goal of 10-12% body fat, while also suffering from body dysmorphia.

Exactly 1 year ago, I weighed 107KGs/235 pounds and that is the fattest I've ever been, at a length of 187 CMs/6'1 foot. To put to that in perspective, 10 years before that, I weighed 82KGs/180 pounds at 20 years of age. I had some stuff happen to me (divorce etc.) and I decided I was done with being fat.

In about a year's time (almost turning 31 now), I went from 107KGs/235 pounds to 87.5KGs/192 pounds. It started with a very very agressive calorie cut of 1450 calories per day and walking for at least 10K steps per day as well and going to the gym to do cardio and light weight-lifting 3 times a week. While probably not very healthy, I mamaged to stick to it for the first 4 months and it helped me lose the first 10-12KGs of fat.

Then I had to move places (cause of the divorce) and dealt with some emotional things which caused me to lose grip and I started eating again, taking me back to around 94KG's. About 3 months ago I retook control and started on a 1700 calorie budget and started going to the gym like a madman for 4, sometimes 5 times a week.

My muscle mass and strength have exploded exponentionally. I'm currently regularly deadlifting 120KGs/264 pounds, pulling 200KGs/440 pounds on the plate-loaded lat pulldown, and benching 70KGs/154 pounds, while doing other exercises as well of course. but these are my most notable.

While these numbers mean little outside of my brain going "Hurr durr, me big man, me stronk", I'm somehow just not happy. I weigh 87.5KGs/192 pounds, and look more muscular than I've ever done in my entire life, but when I look in the mirror I'm just not seeing it. I still see and feel belly fat and fat on my waist in general. I can feel a hard layer of abdominal muscles underneath, but there's just another layer of fat that covers them.

I'm struggling to lose the belly fat and fat around my waist, while also struggling to not see a fat man when I look in the mirror. I'm still on a 1700 calorie budget on days where I don't train, I still put out about 8K steps a day on average besides going to the gym to keep my NEAT high, while eating more on days where I'm done exceptional amounts of exercise so I don't starve my body. Usually on those days I eat somewhere between 1900-2100 calories, 2200 is an exceptiom but happens sometimes.

Right now I'm starting to get in the mindset where I feel like I should start eating even less, while knowing that'a probably not what's going to help me here, since averaging over the entire week, I'm on a daily \~450 calorie deficit. But if that deficit just isn't enough for me to lose the belly fat, what the bleep am I supposed to do then?

Does anyone have any tips on this "final" stage to looking good-ness or tips on how to deal with the body dysmorphia? It would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

So normally i hear that your glutes pull your pelvis back, but mine don’t. They push me forward. They will flatten the back but will make me grip my entire back pelvic floor which obviously is not good and i will spare the tmi of how that messes up bathroom trips lol. But today i noticed i can only activate glutes one way. By cranking them and pushing them underneath me. Which splays my feet externally and makes it hard to do a lot of movements when i am trying to lift. I do have an anterior tilt, its not extremely bad and I know that many of us have a curve in our pelvis. When i use my glutes they take away any tilt at all. I actually look like i have no but at all when i activate them.

I am assuming i have been using them incorrectly my entire life. Any advice or tips would be awesome.

Hey everyone,

I’ve been training calisthenics for years, but I always hated how fragmented the progress felt, jumping between different PDFs and YouTube videos to find the next "logical" step.

I’m a developer, so I spent the last year building my app, a visual skill tree where every node is a prerequisite for the next. Unlike most apps, I didn't just copy-paste a generic routine; I built a custom engine to handle the transitions and generate workouts for all levels.

I’m opening a Beta phase and I need "Auditors." Specifically, I need people who know their stuff to try and break my progression logic!

If you want to help me fine-tune the "math" of calisthenics, drop a comment or DM me and I’ll send you the invite link for the iOS beta!