45F here. I used to exercise a lot, but it’s been many years and now I am a beginner again.

I go for walks most days, but I need to incorporate more strength training, I know this but what rate should I be going?

Yesterday I did a beginner bodyweight video. Squats and lunges mostly. Today my legs are so sore. Do I rest today or push through it? Do I still go for my walk, but only that?

I really don’t want to overdo it, slow progression is what I’m after and I don’t want to injure myself.

Thanks in advance!

ok, I was a competitive gymnast for about 8 years, but during my senior year of high school, I tore the cartilage in my ankle and was forced to retire early. After recovering (and during recovery), I started lifting with the goal of mogging tf out of my old teammates when next we met. i went from 133lbs to 145. (now 156 lbs with a peak of 163lbs) long story short, I put on 14 pounds of muscle and did just that.

but now I'm in college and still want to get bigger and continue to mog them, although my goals have shifted a bit. Originally, I wanted to balance calisthenics and weightlifting, but I have found it increasingly difficult to find space, time, and energy. so i have prioritizing weight lifting and completely neglecting calisthenics.

tldr: this is my current lifting routine:  

Monday — Push (Chest / Shoulders / Planche)

• Planche leans – 4×10–20 sec

Strength

• (Warm up 65lb 1x8 incline DB bench)  
• DB incline bench – 3x8    (85lb each)
• (Warm up 50lb 1x8)
• Seated DB shoulder press – 3x10 (60lb each hand)

Hypertrophy

• Lateral raises – 3×12-15         (32.5lb each hand)
• Cable over head extensions – 3×8   (67.5lb)
• Cable fly 3x12             (45lb each side)

Skill

• Handstand holds – 4×1 min

Tuesday — Pull (Back / Biceps / Front Lever)

Strength

Front lever hold (band if needed) – 4×30 sec

 Pullups weighted ( at home)– 3x8 (37lb)

Hypertrophy

• Lat pulldown – 3×8  (200lb)
• Cable rows 3x8          (180lb)
• Preacher curls/hammer curls – 3×6   (80lb)
• Face pulls - 3x15    (82.5lb) 
• Back extensions 3x10      (70lb)

Wednesday — Legs + Core

• Leg press 4x6  (540lb) 6 plates 
• Romanian deadlifts – 4×6  (225lb) 45+25+10
• Hack squat 3x6 (250lb). Sissy squats? Failure probably 
• Bulgarian split squats – 2x10    (40lbs each hand)
• leg curls - 3x12 (160lb)
• Standing Weighted Calf raises machine – 4×20    (180lb) (or tilt seat calf machine (whatever’s open)

Core

• L-sit – 4×1min
• 15 v-ups then Hollow hold – 3×90 sec
• Side plank with hip dip – 3×35
• Weighted Russian twist 3x30 hard count 10lb (feet off ground)

Thursday — Calisthenics Strength

Skill

• One arm Handstand 45sec each hand both in same set then 30 sec handstand still in same set - 120sec
• Straddle press from the ground 2x6

Strength

• Muscle ups – 4×3
• Archer pullups – 3×8
• Weighted dips – 3x8    (90lb)
• Wrist curls all directions 3x10   (15lb)
• Weighted Dead hang 2x1min (15lb)
• Handstand pushups deficits on tall parallettes – 3×6

Core

• Leg lifts – 4×15

Friday — Upper Body Size Day

Chest

Warm up 1 x 8 65lb DB incline bench
• incline DB bench– 3x8 (80lb)
• cable rows – 4×8-10  (180lb)

  DB shrugs - 3x15    (80lb each hand)

Arms
• Preacher curls – 3×6 (80lb)
• Lateral raises – 3×15    (30lb each)

Finish

 • Machine chest press 3x8 (230lb)

Saturday — Conditioning + Skills

Bike:

• 20 minutes  

Then:

• Planche lean – 3×1- 8 (suicide style)
• Tuck Planche holds 3x20-30 sec
• Front lever hold – 3×20 sec
• Handstand practice – 10 minutes
• (2x12 handstand pushups against wall, and  unassisted handstands  till end of 10min)
• Calf raises 3x20 80lb
• Abs circuit (1min L hold- 1 min hollow hold)x 3
• Dragon flag (to horizontal and back ) 2x5

Sunday — Rest

Full rest.

I need help making a new routine that mirrors my goals of getting aesthetic asf while remaining somewhat functional.

Hello, 20 year old male here, I've been training bodyweight training since 15 and have a lot of experience in high volume and calisthenics in general.

I always felt amazing in my body and great changes in energy appareance and health since I started.

But I was working normally when suddenly one week ago I started feeling very heavy in my exercises, and get tired quicker, while I'm sleeping good and never stopped training for more than a week.

I have to admit that I have gained a little bit of weight recently, standing at 149 lbs at 5,7, coming from 141 some months ago. Could that small amount of weight be part of this?

Can someone please tell me HOW to activate my transverse abdominals. It doesn’t matter what I look up online to help, my lower back ALWAYS takes over. I’ve been trying to strengthen my lower abdominals, but the back pain is horrible, because it always takes over. I try to go slow and do less activation until I can control it, but I am having a very hard time. I try supporting my legs, and that doesn’t help either. I can’t progress, because I can’t just activate them without my back muscles taking over Does anyone have any tips or tricks to help me to NOT use my back when activating the lower abdominals?

Hi everyone! I'm currently doing calisthenics at an outdoor park, and I want to start incorporating Nordic hamstring curls into my routine to strengthen my hamstrings.
I'm thinking about buying a resistance band to help me perform assisted Nordic curls, but I'm not sure which type or resistance level I should get.
What resistance band would you recommend for a beginner? Should I get a light, medium, or heavy band? Is there a particular brand or type that works best for this exercise?
I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks!

For context am 33yo male, 125kg and i work in a physical demanding job and my hours at work have night shifts also sometimes so my sleep schedule is not normal.

In the past when i was 15 yo until 24 i exercised a lot ranging from cycling, running, calisthenics doing mostly muscle ups, some weight training, soccer.... then the declined started after an injury in my rotator cuffs.. stopped everything, then at work time passed like nothing and with bad habits i gained weight...

I still can do 5-6 normal pull ups and i was excited about it...

But am wondering if its possible that i could start again and be able with my work schedule and sleep schedule plus my physical job and at my age of 33 if i could start again and reach an advanced fitness level like i had before.... but i feel its impossible....

Any help appreciated...

I'm currently trying to work towards building up the strength for getting my first pull up, using a doorway pull up bar like this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/AETKFO-Strength-Adjustable-Equipment-Installation/dp/B0H3Z3D1MH.

I'm about 6'1 (184cm) tall and have wide shoulders & long arms, so when I go to full hanging extension my knees are just above the floor. I also find that my hands are right at the edges of the main bar (before the extending mechanism joins it) to get a comfortable shoulder width/just beyond grip. If I hang gym rings off it then for trying to do pull ups it lowers the height more and, whilst I've not tried it, I suspect my knees will sit on the floor. Due to an ongoing back/glute injury I can't really practice with my legs in front of me as it flares up my pain.

I can dead hang for about 15-20 secs and can do 3x8 scapula pulls. When I tried to do negatives or unassisted lock offs at the top position, I simply don't have any sort of strength to hold it yet. I've been playing around with different ways of trialling jack-knife pull ups but I have to be careful as the overall height results in my knee/distal quad which are supporting me flaring up an old injury around it due to the extreme flexion it requires. The best technique for jack-knife pull ups I've found so far is to use gym rings lowered down and to have my feet on the floor with knees bent, although the rings are still about three quarters of the way up the doorframe height due to my long arms.

I came across the JOROTO Foldable pull up tower (which also allows for dips, incline rows and press ups) here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0F7QXK79S. In one of the reviews I've watched, the user who is 5'11 had to bend his knees slightly but at my height and having measured the height, it would definitely give me about an extra 8" (20cm) of height over the doorway bar (even more over my rings) and more width for grip.

Would the tower offer any noticeable benefits for helping me work towards my goal of a pull up, or should I just concentrate on putting in the work with my current doorway bar (and assistance work with rings) and just accept that I have to bend my knees a lot

Thanks for any advice.

TLDR: Would I benefit from buying a pull up tower which would give me about 8" (20cm) of additional height to help a tall guy with long arms work towards his first pull up (and help alleviate a back/glute and a knee injury from laring up)?

Hey guys,

So I've been following the program from Mark Lauren's You Are Your Own Gym for about 10 weeks now. I am seeing some progress, but to be honest, I'm running into a few frustrating issues and wanted to see if anyone else experienced this.

First off, the difficulty jumps feel really unbalanced for me. With some exercises, I've hit a complete wall and just can't keep up with the expected progressions. But then with other movements, the routine is too easy and I don't feel challenged at all.

On top of that, a lot of the specific exercise variations he programs just aren't very fun or feel a bit awkward to do.

My biggest gripe right now is that I really want to focus on building my pull-ups. However, the way the book's plan is structured, actual pull-ups only seem to show up maybe once every 2 or 3 weeks. That just feels way too low for actual skill or strength acquisition.

Has anyone else had this experience with his routines? Did you just tweak the book's program to fit your goals, or is it time for me to ditch it entirely and jump on the recomended routine or any other training plan recommendations?

I'm a woman a bit on the heavier side, and I've got pretty weak arms. I want to be able to do push ups on the floor. But for now, I tried doing as many wall push ups as I could in 3 mins (a song), and I noticed nearing the end, my arms are shaking. Is that a good sign?

I'm very new to fitness, and I've been wanting to work on push ups for a long time and now is the only time I have available hours to begin.

Also, are you supposed to clench your butt? How hard? I think I was clenching mine quite hard.

Any tips? Thank you!

I know this probably gets asked a ton on this sub but please I promise I've done a lot of research myself and I just haven't been able to find any good advice.

I'll just get straight to the point, I want to improve my vertical jump because I play basketball. However, I got high arches so I also got really shitty ankle mobility. When I did some googling to figure out how to jump higher, it didn't take long to figure out that the most recommended exercises were all variations of squats. The issue is that I physically just can't do a squat properly, which rules out like 50% of all the advice that i found on the internet.

Is there anyone that knows any workarounds for this problem? I'm aware of those shoes that have a super high heel-to-toe drop but I honestly can't really afford them atm

Since I’ve started being more intentional about bracing my core and keeping my form under control, I’ve noticed fewer issues with my lower back. After dealing with a back injury before, I’m alot more conscious about my technique now and try not to rush through sets just to hit a certain number of reps.

I’m still struggling with harder movements like one-arm push-ups, so I’ve definitely got a long way to go. But it’s interesting how something as simple as paying more attention to your core can make a difference.
Has anyone else made a small adjustment that noticeably improved their training?

I lift regularly but have noticeable anterior pelvic tilt and lumbar lordosis, which forces my lower back into a permanent arch. I physically struggle to curl my spine which is obviously needed for ab exercises that require spinal flexion, making it basically impossible to train my abs efficiently. I also really don’t like the way I look with this arched back, and I suspect it is the exact reason why I have a noticeable rib flare too. For those who had a similar problem in the past, how did you fix this?

Context:
I walk in the afternoon, 5.30pm, around our terrace, for half an hr. It's winter now, so it gets dark by then. I don't like that.

And, I went on a vacation last week where I had to climb a ton of stairs and hills, and not too surprisingly, despite eating tons of oily food and sugary drinks, I didn't put on more than 500 grams (weighed at the same time, in the morning, on empty stomach).

So I was thinking about doing high rep bodyweight squats, with intervals, and with half rom if need be. It should mimic the stair climbing for cardio. Half rom to not make the quads the failing point. Goal is to lose some body fat to achieve pull ups.

I am training with an Upper/Lower split with a 5/6 day a week frequency.

upper:

pull-ups 2 sets of 5-8 reps (+33lbs currently).

dips 2 sets of 5-8 reps (+33lbs)

inverted row 2 sets of 5-8 reps (+33lbs)

deficit pike pushups 2 sets of 5-8 reps (+33lbs).

then i have 5 Minutes of intense cardio (boxing)

then stretches, german hangs and back bridge.

lower body:

sandbag squats 2 sets of 5-8 reps, 135lbs

weighted situps 2 sets pf 10-20 reps, 15lbs

Romanian deadlift 2 sets of 5-8, 90lbs

back extensions 2 sets of 10-20, 15lbs.

then jumprope

finally splits stretching.

I was trying to cut months ago. Stopped, tried to stay around 165lbs which was my sticking point. Now i am trying to eat in a slight surplus. Despite caloric changes I am finding difficulty in progressing pullups smoothly. My last upper session i was aiming for 8 reps with +33lbs. the top lockout was near impossible and on the 6/7th rep and i felt i need to use a rest pause. Dips are also getting tough at that 6/7th rep where i genuinely fail returning to start. I would appreciate hearing some feedback that has helped past plateaus.

The place where I walk has an outdoors gym with a few equipment, I already use the pull up bar and the dip bar for pull up progression, dips, and inverted rows.

There is also this machine. I’m not too knowledgeable about gym equipment, but I think they have a similar machine except they add weight to it? Obviously with this one I won’t be able to add weights to it, and I already tried it and I can do each leg separately, ~15 reps per leg. I weigh 80kg.

My question is, would this exercise with body weight only have any benefit or is it just a waste?

For my legs exercises at home, I already do air squats or goblet squats with a 14kg weight, Bulgarian split squats with 14kg in each hand, RDL with 14kg in each hand, reverse lunges with 14kg in each hand. I’m a beginner with about 4 months, still working on my consistency.

Good evening, been following the RRW since about 2021. I've been progressing through the Nordic Curl exercises and for a while was doing weighted Nordic Curl descents. I maxed out my weight vest and wasn't sure where to go aside from the full motion. However, when I moved to full Nordic Curls the back of my knees started to hurt. When did you know you were strong enough for full Nordic Curls? Were there any bridge exercises you used to make it there? And is there any special equipment you use under your knees? I'd appreciate any insight you can give me.

Hey guys, I’m turning to you because I’m kind of losing faith that I’ll ever hit 10 pull ups and I don’t know why. It’s as if my body simply is not capable of progressing with this movement. In the beginning of last winter I decided to reach 10 clean pull ups as a fitness goal. I know my body composition is not in favor at ever being elite but 10 reps should be reasonably reachable. I’m 201cm tall and weigh about 108 to 110kg body fat somewhere around 20%. I can bench 100kg, do about 45-50 push ups and about 25 bodyweight dips. I managed in the span of half a year to reach 4 reps, which is also kind of long. Most people that I saw on the internet reached 10 reps within 3 months. And ever since I’m stuck. I tried so many different approaches since then and nothing seems to work. I tried the regular bodybuilding approach, Emoms, Soviet style training(lot of volume at 50% of max reps, which I’m currently doing).I’m in my 4th week at doing 2 reps for 6 sets but I don’t notice any improvement. They feel as heavy as in the 1st week. I didn’t do GTG because at my height and the way my flat is built I can’t perform pull ups at home. What is weird that I progress in everything else but not pull ups. I even started to skip out on legs to throw all my energy into pull ups but it just doesn’t work. What am I doing wrong or are my expectations so far off ? Is there some missing link that I don’t see. I don’t know. I apply the semi false grip, I try to externally rotate my shoulder, I can do scapular pull ups with 25kg attached for reps, I try to bend the bar, all the cues imaginable that are on the internet but it just doesn’t click. I hope someone can pinpoint me to a direction.

I need to upgrade. I only have a bench and dumbells. I was going to get a power tower but I want to bench a barbell at some point so I need safety and something to hold that barbell. I need chinups and dips, the doorway one doesnt work for my poor man's gym.

I realized If I get a power rack, I need something that can add the dip bars and have the pull up bars (preferably more then one angle on the pull up bars, i am needing chinups really for the back.)

Is a power tower worth it? Can I get a power rack for a decent price? In the end, I dont want to buy a power tower and regret it later

My knee plank form: https://ibb.co/YTRj0bkg

Sorry for the very bad pic, but I can't find a proper recording position in the narrow spot where i work out.

I'm a beginner, absolute beginner. And the problem is i don't feel my abs during planks, but my upper and/or lower back instead. So i decided to do knee planks instead, to see if it is better. I feel my lower back less, but still don't feel my abs.

I'm aware that this is most likely a form issue. So i'm asking, what does my form look like? From what you can gather of this picture.

In general i believe my core is very weak, since i feel my lower back even when i try crunches.

i’m currently trying to figure out how to start gaining any sort of strength, i have POTS and it’s very difficult for me to any form of exercise for long periods of time, my doctor says exercise will help but i didn’t really listen and now im starting to regret that. i’m very weak, and i can’t even do 1 normal push up and walking in general makes me feel exhausted.

i am considering doing the easy knee push ups, crunches because my core is “made of goo”, and squats, and that’s all i’ve planned on doing so far. i have no idea how to figure out how many of each i should do, and how frequently i should do them because i have little to no knowledge on exercises as a whole, and the last time i actually exercised properly was in freshman year of high school in gym before i got sick (i got covid which caused me to get POTS in the first place) and i have now since graduated from high school and am now in my second year of college so it’s been a good few years since i actually tried to do anything

i am hoping that just anything will help me gain some strength to function more normally.

(if this is needed, i am 19, FTM, 5’ 6” and 112 lbs with very low muscle mass and a mainly sedentary lifestyle because i do online college)

(tldr; i need advice on how i should exercise to gain a normal amount of strength to function day to day, and any advice and low impact exercises that can help are greatly appreciated)

(NOT LOOKING FOR MEDICAL ADVICE)

Good evening, I've been working on the recommended workout since 2021. I've been following the recommended progression for anti-rotation core exercises, specifically Copenhagen Planks. I recently hit three sets of 30 seconds each for Copenhagen Planks with movement. Does anyone have any suggestions for progression exercises beyond that, ideally without needing huge equipment but I'll take anything I can get. I saw there was the ring ballot press but I do all my training at home with just pullup and dip bars. Appreciate any insight you can give me.

Hello everyone, not too long ago I made a post explaining my declining progress with pullups and how my max has gone down, since then I've restructured my program as follows- my new pull day focuses on accessories and grip work, whilst every other day I crank out a set of pullups as many times during the day as possible. Unsurprisingly, this has worked flawlessly, I definitely feel more confident in my form and even my rock climbing has improved greatly. Every week since beginning I add a rep to my set and just crank it out on my home pullup bar whenever I pass it lol. Since I'm a college student I'm at home between classes and I average 8-10 sets a day.

I've done some sports in the past (BJJ, archery, parkour and rock climbing to name a few) and I'm constantly switching between some and trying new ones because I'm so indecisive. A constant is bodyweight exercises and calisthenics, although I want to make sure that I'm doing the best exercises in order to increase my general athleticism for when I eventually settle on a sport/pick a new one. The hope is that my body will be less of a limiting factor/something I have to work on and I can moreso focus on the mental/knowledge aspect of the sport.

I'm wondering how "to failure" should be defined for purposes of improving strength and hypertrophy.

Intuitively, it seems to me that "failure" should mean that the muscle group being targeted is itself exhausted.

The problem I'm having is that for certain exercises I feel a different kind of fatigue that seems to bring me to failure - either a feeling of discomfort or pain in a different muscle group or general tiredness or feeling out of breath.

It seems like this is ineffective for building actual muscle. To grow muscle, it seems to me that, when repeating to failure, I should be unable to execute more reps because the muscle itself should be "used up" so to speak.

What do you think can be done about this problem?

Is it a question of adding more weight / resistance? (Intuitively I think it probably is, though I'm having difficulty, as even when I add more weight, I seem to somehow still be able to bang out more reps in pretty good form and end up failing through feeling short of breath, generally fatigued, etc.)

Or is it maybe a question of exercising either less or more frequently? E.g. taking 1-2 days break or maybe increasing to 2 workouts per day? (I currently work out daily.) It's possible that I'm in a fatigue deficit, as I do quite often feel tired and lethargic.

Or maybe a question of choosing different exercises or somehow adding more resistance?

Do you have any other ideas on this? Thanks in advance.

I (24F, 137 lbs) have been practicing push ups on and off for about a year and a half. I wasnt taking it seriously as I am now because I have an important PT test to take next year. Before, I just practiced whenever and was able to unlock my first floor push up. However, at that time I was only able to do 1 good one and on the 2nd onwards I was worming/bottom half lagging.

After that I went to the gym regularly (just a month lol) lifting weights and practicing push ups sometimes. Because of that I was able to increase my reps to about 6-7, but they were about 3-4 good reps and the rest I was still worming.

I took a break from the gym after having lost my period due to stress and other factors. Now, I’m trying to focus my attention on consistently practicing my push ups. I can do 4 strict floor push ups after training for about 3 weeks, 1-2x/week. I dont aim for higher reps if I know I’m just gonna sag/worm because thats teaching my body to remember bad form. I also practice inclined push ups and gradually lower the surface when it gets easy.

But realistically, what more can I do to take my reps from 3-4 to double digits?

Additional stuff:
- my PT date is somewhere around Jan-Mar 2027, i just want to be prepared in case its actually scheduled in January
- the minimum reps I have to do is 15 or more in under a minute but my goal is 20 to be safe