I’ve been lifting for three and a half years and slowly making progress. When I started out, I couldn’t bench more than 95 for one rep; my one rep max is now 185 for one rep. But I think I could be making so much more progress! One big hindrance I’ve faced is that a victim of yo-yo dieting brought on by my body dysmorphia. I’m never satisfied with the way my body looks and I never like how my clothes fit me. Thus, I never move more than 10 pounds in either direction before stopping that diet phase. I want what most guys do: my legs to look more cut, to have a wider back, V-line abs, and bigger shoulders. I use the RP hypertrophy app and RP diet app and weigh all my food. Admittedly, my diet is wonky because I’m a picky eater. Currently, I lift 5 days a week for at least 1 hour with a whole body program. I also do Muay Thai two days a week. I don’t do cardio and never have but probably average 7-8,000 steps a day. What’s going wrong? Is it just my mentality, is something wrong with my training, is it my diet, or is it some combination thereof?

So, this is probably a common question, but I’ll give it a go.

I'm 40+ years old, not using any gear, and have been doing different sports all my life. I have done weight training primarily as a substitute for sports, but also focused on "powerlifting" in periods. I haven’t gotten really strong, but I’ve gotten decent. My sport now is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and I want to add some muscle, so I started training again after about 7-10 years off weight training. The thing is, I have always been a fan of basic weight training, doing primarily lifts like squat, deadlift, shoulder press, bench press, rowing, and pull-ups. This has worked well in the past.

But being 40+ and not having a goal of competing in powerlifting, I'm wondering if I should just give up on the deadlift and do, say, only low-bar squats and front squats instead? Now I do low-bar and deadlift. I’m thinking they are pretty close to each other, so maybe doing front squats and low bar would be a better combo.

Also, I did deadlifts today, and my back hurts a little:) I haven’t felt this much before. I don't have access to a trap bar at my current gym, BTW. So yeah, what do you guys think? Does low-bar and front squat sound like a better idea than low-bar and deadlifts?

I always overbulk i need advice on how to avoid it and succesfully put on muscle without fat gain and ending up out of shape

M 42 5'9 163lbs.

Started at 180lbs skinny fat with zero muscle mass, this is where I'm at 2 years later and feel like any size is just so hard to put on! I dieted down to 155lbs to start, then bulked my way back to 188 lbs, and just finished my cut to 163 lbs! But feel smaller than ever! 😭

Is my volume too high? I think I'm hitting every muscle group but I'm spending about 1.5hrs in the gym for day1 and day2. I rest 1.5 minutes between all sets unless it's bench/squat/deadlift in which I rest 2-2.5

For some context I'm 5.8, 24m, 154lbs and have been lifting for about 6 months. My starting weight before lifting anything was 153. I bulked way too fast to 170 in 3 months when I first started and then cut back down to 151 in 2 months. My bench started at 100 for 10 and I'm now at 145 for 8. My deadlift started at 150 for 5 and is now at 250 for 8. So I do think I'm a better 150 than I was 6 months ago even if I messed up the diet. My current plan is to try to bulk to 175 in a year at 0.5 lb per week. Thoughts?

Looking for a way to specifically strengthen my grip for deadlifts. I can do max settings on most of my grip trainers and even hold them closed for a pretty long time but doesn’t seem like my grip on deadlifts has improved at all.

I’m having to stop on like 3-4 reps when I know I’ve got 8+ in me with the same weight. I’m fairly sure at this point my grip is why my deadlift has stayed relatively the same for 6-7 months now.

Can someone explain to me what is happening? About 3 months ago I wanted to get more folate in my diet, so I switched out most of my carbs (rice and potatoes, I still eat bread btw) for green lentils.

It's kind of insane, but I have never seen so much progress in my 10+ years of lifting. I am getting notcibly thicker and much stronger without changing my routine much.

Yes, I know lentils have more protein than rice, but I was already getting plently of protein. I eat tons of eggs, steak, chicken, etc, and also drink protein shakes. I easily get 180g of protein a day (6'0 215).

Anyone have any clue what is going on? The only thing I changed in my life is replacing rice and potatoes with green lentils.

I’ve been in the gym for over 3 years now, neglected my abs for a long time. How often should I train abs, I feel like my recovery time is very short. Even after pushing to absolute failure, it only really takes me a day or two to be back to normal. I trained abs last night and I already feel like I can do more tonight. Would I be able to squeeze in 4 ab sessions a week at the end of my workouts, or would I see less gains from overtraining because of it? I normally only do 3 sets of weighted crunches or leg raises and 3 sets of side bends with dumbbells. Do I need to ad more, my sessions already take me around an hour and a half.

I F19 have always been a very petite person and even considered underweight for my height. Recently I’ve been getting what looks to be cellulite on my stomach as well as heavier upper arms, I’m not sure if a calorie deficit will help me as I am already underweight so how/ what workouts do I need to do to get rid of the cellulite on my stomach.

I have a 4 day split that goes Back/Bicep, Chest/Triceps, Quads/Calves, Hamstrings/Glutes. I'm just curious if there are any muscle groups that aren't getting targeted or any key movements that I should include. On the other side, I also wonder if there are any redundant exercises that work the same group. Any other advice about this plan is appreciated!

Addition: My main goal is fat loss with a secondary goal of generally better health/more active lifestyle and, thirdly, to grow in strength and mobility.

Quads & Calves - Squats - Calf Raises - Hip Adductor + Abductor - Leg Extensions

Back & Biceps - Bicep Curls - Bent Over Dumbbell Rows - Deadlift - Lat Raises - Lat Pulldowns

Hamstrings & Glutes - Squats - Dead Lift - RDLs - Seated Leg Curls

Chest & Triceps - Inclined Dumbbell Bench Press - Dumbbell Pullovers - Vertical Bench Press - Pectoral Fly - Overhead Tricep Pull

Thanks again for your help!

I have always had a slight Chest imbalance with my left being smaller than right (weird bc I’m left handed). Tore my pec playing football (~2 years post surgery now) and needed surgery and the imbalance got slightly worse. I also notice a slight hip imbalance in this pic idk if that could be a problem as well.

Any exercises specifically I should be doing? Also which parts of my chest do you think I should be targeting the most with what workout?

Thx

i am an amateur gym go-er for about a year now, and off/on for like 4 years prior and now that i have a consistent split, i’ve found that my struggle has been in my diet all along. i gain strength and improve my form when i lift but i can’t seem to put on the weight to get the look im going for. i’ve tried the mass gainer proteins and while im sure they’d work for me, i just can’t choke them down without vomiting. it’s not even the protein, it’s the thickness and taste of it. like why do they all have to be artificially sweet milkshakes?? what I need is a protein powder (doesn’t even have to be a mass gainer) that i can mix into water and maybe just chug it without feeling like it’s a milkshake. preferably unflavored, and i know im asking too much by saying i’d really like to be able to mix it into something like gatorade without being able to tell but that’s just to give an idea of what im looking for. help me!!

1st pic is me now, 2nd pic was me January 1st.

My tendon keeps slipping over my elbow when doing certain exercises, especially overhead tricep work. Does anyone else have this issue, and apart from avoiding overhead work, how do you manage?

To make it very clear - I am NOT asking for medical advice of any sort. I have spent a ton of time working with doctors and physical therapists, and know how to avoid getting hurt or to respect my limits.

Now to what I am asking. If you have similar contraindications:

1. Which program do you follow? Just trying to get some variety in my routine without having to sift through ‘go to’ exercises I should avoid like deadlifts.
2. Any lessons learned for dealing with this shit?

Thanks!

If this isn't allowed then I apologize. I am not looking for advice. I'm just curious about others experiences. 2 months ago I had a distal bicep tear at work. I was picking up a piece of glass from 6" off the ground, and my bicep ripped off the bone and went straight up to my shoulder. I had an allograft surgery 3 weeks ago. I'm just curious if anyone else has gone through that, if you were able to bounce back from it? Part of my job when I'm not on light duty is to carry 100+lbs, cradled in my right arm. Doc seems sure I'll be back there in 6 months, but the way I feel and the range of motion I don't have anymore makes me skeptical. Again, if this goes against any of the rules, I apologize.

Sup guys,

Im looking to get some new workout clothes and was wondering if anyone had some recommendations. I have a couple of the under armour workout shirts, but they're insanely tight around the arms and i'm looking for something that's not skin tight. on top of that i'm a pretty sweaty person so looking for shirts w/ breathable material as well - any recommendations?

I'm lean and i have a small pectus excavatum ive been doing chest workouts. I've got a good upper outer part of my chest buti dont know what ive got to do with my inner chest. What are good inner chest workouts? I've got a bench(regulated angle) with cable machine to do lateral pulldowns and some dumbells and barbells. Is anything possible with this equipment?

I'm confused and conflicted. I always hear weight training folks swear that you have to rest, but then calisthenics folks swear by 100 reps of this or that every day. Which one is it?? lol the moment Im set on rest days I see a million vids on how totally RIPPED folks do the same thing everyday.

I've started working out 5-6 times at the gym. But have a powerstation at home so do a pull-ups, chin-ups and dips too. I'd love to do them everyday but don't want to overtrain

I first went to the gym in 2021 but since then haven’t been consistent for more than 1 month and have made little to no progress. I find gym really boring and wanted to find a way to stay more consistent. My workouts before would take around 1hr-1.5hr but I was thinking of doing less exercises e.g. for push day doing 2 chest exercises and 1 tricep exercise, and trying to finish my workout in max 45min. Is doing that little bad? Also please recommend some other ways that helped you stay consistent with gym.

Hi all,

I am struggling big time with my weightloss journey and I hope to find some usefull advise here. I will break-up my story into some bullet points, which I think will sum up my situation.

Based on: 195CM Height | 80KG currently

1. Achievements until now
At the end of 2023 (November) I started at 110KG's. I already went to the gym like 5 days a week. I only did weight lifting, which I really enjoyed. I was just fat at the moment, but gained quite some strength. My one rep max on the benchpress for example was 130KGs.

Right now, my bodyweight is lowered to around 80KGs. So lost 30KGs. Also lost quite some strength, so definetely not only fat. My one rep max on the bench for example is now 100KGs.

I am quite happy with the fatloss I achieved, but the belly is still there. The waist circumference at the start of the weightloss is unknown, but it's currently 77CM

2. Fatloss stagnation and influence of water weight
Since a couple of months, my fatloss progress slowed down/stagnates. On the one hand because I am constantly doubting what I should do. So effectively I am cutting for some weeks, alternated with maintenance and sometimes a small surplus. This way I will get nowhere and it frustrates me a lot.

Also I am doubting everything I do. The last few weeks I was cutting again. I lost like 5KGs within one week, so lots of water loss there. After the first 5KGs during the first week, I lost another 2KGs during the next four weeks. But after 2 days of eating some more carbs, I gained back this 2KGs immediately. So did I lose any fat during this month? Or is it only waterloss? I was cutting on a 500-600kcal deficit. So the influence of water weight is really getting under my skin here.

3. Building/cut further/body recomp?
My biggest struggle for sure is making the choice of what to do. I am constantly doubting and switching between: cutting, maintenance and a small surplus. So I am getting nowhere. I really want to lose the last belly fat. But on the other hand, I want to gain strength back. People are contantly saying how skinny I became, which is also not helping. Also I feel very tired, basically everyday. I cannot train that hard anymore, even skipping some trainings because I really need the rest..

I am walking 10.000 steps everyday and most of the time hit the gym 5 days a week. I really love going to the gym, so the motivation here is not a problem. I only need a proper plan from now on.

For reference, please see the photo's of the progress:

(https://postimg.cc/QF6P0TPN)
(https://postimg.cc/PLJGj4Z8)
(https://postimg.cc/yJbMYZXp)

If anyone could give honest advise, that would be really appreciated!
Many thanks in advance!

Basically title. 43, been going to the gym for around 4 years now. I am at a point now where I realize that my wrist strengh/stability is holding me back from getting heavier, especially on stuff like dumbbell incline benchpress and barbell benchpress. How would you engage that problem?

Im 19M (ftm pre everything), 5’2” and 95lbs.

I am a housekeeper so my job is quite active without breaks (i work 4 hours a day 5 days a week), i walk to work every morning which is 1.30 hrs and 3/5 days i walk back home. I come home and do 15 mins - 1 hour of either pilates, weights, or hiit. There are somedays where i have burnt more than 800 but its slightly rare, also could just be me miscalculating or my watch messing up.

My main goal is to be slender/lean but my hips are curvy, aka i have an hour glass, which is a fucking nightmare, literally the worst thing. I want to build a more masculine/neutral body shape but my thighs and hips, no matter how much working out i do, stay “thick” it sucks.

Question is, what workouts should i be doing, and considering how much i burn, how much should i be eating? Thank you.

(I want to add that i am possible autistic (getting tested), so any sarcastic or rude comments i probably wont understand, or if my responses dont make any sense, please let me know. Im adding this because whenever ive asked questions on this topic in the past i get mostly rude comments from people and they make me quite upset. Apologies)

27M 99kg 6ft2. I’m currently trying to put on muscle as well as burn fat. I train 5 days in the gym (PPL) and play football for an hour at a high intensity twice a week. I’m also considering adding incline walking 2-3 times a week. I worked out my maintenance calories using an online calculator and eat 500 calories less than my maintenance.

I have 3 meals a day which usually consists of overnight oats for breakfast with low fat Greek yoghurt, peanut butter, protein powder, chia seeds and almond milk. For lunch I have 2 grilled chicken quarters. With a handful of roasted baby potatoes and broccoli.

My last meal is usually before gym and it’s 3 boiled eggs with light mayo in a sandwich.

I get around 150g of protein in and just about hit my calorie limit.

My question is, is this enough protein to build muscle considering my weight and height as well as lose weight? If not, how can I add more protein into my diet without over eating and feeling sick because honesty, after my 3rd meal I don’t have room for anymore food.

Any advice would be appreciated :).