r/Workingout

I feels like there’s something new every week online (does anyone feel the same?), but what are people actually doing consistently?

Anything you're seeing more of lately, in your gym or circles? And if anything is working - happy to hear

Basically the title. I used to go to gym couple of years ago in my hometown, trainers there are generally helpful to teach you and help with exercises, so largely the routine is set. But after shifting to big city, I see that big gym does not have trainers who are actually teaching you what to do in gym, they are rather focused only on ppl who pay them for personal training, or are rather standing in groups and chit chatting. This kind of makes me highly demotivated to go to gym because except warmup and cardio, I dont know what else to do. I know AI can help with routine but having someone experienced makes a lot difference when working out. Also paying 10k per month for personal training on top of gym membership seems like putting in too much money personally. I genuinely want to get back to healthy body but I honestly cannot wrap my head around this. Would appreciate opinions from people how they managed.

I'm 21F and I am very very out of shape. I weigh 130lbs so I'm not too worried about weight loss, moreso about building strength and endurance so I stop getting fatigued from walking up the stairs or carrying something heavy. I also have a few health problems that could be much improved by simply exercising regularly. The hard part is that I deal with depression and heavy heavy procrastination. Every time I have tried going to the gym and implementing a workout routine, it doesn't last longer than a week or two.

I need an incentive like a reward or some sort of motivation to get me going to the gym twice a week. I've decided to use my apartment gym since I feel like that would be the absolute easiest for me to access and I don't have to worry about money. I've considered doing a reward system per week then maybe after a little doing per month or something where I take myself out to a nice dinner or buy myself a gift. My dad also gave the idea of paying him $100 at the beginning of the month and if I go all 8 days, I get the money back. Please help with ideas or what has maybe worked for you!

tl;dr - in need of advice to get me going to the gym as a very out of shape, major procrastinator.

there are some exercises i have to force myself to do, while others i actually look forward to. i'm curious which exercises people genuinely enjoy doing over and over.

what's the one you never get bored of?

Honestly, I’m at a point in my life where I really want to make a change. My bestfriend stopped talking to me after getting in a relationship and I recently lost pretty much all of my friends because of a situation involving my university. I don’t really talk to many people or go out/party anymore, and at this point most of my life is basically just working and going home. It’s been pretty lonely, but I’m trying to look at it differently and use this as motivation to focus on myself.

One of the biggest things I want to commit to now is the gym. I’m a pretty skinny guy and I’ve always felt like I have a really fast metabolism, so gaining weight and building muscle has been difficult for me. I’ve tried going to the gym consistently before for like a few weeks, but I would eventually stop and lose motivation because I felt like I wasn’t seeing much progress. This time I really want to commit and actually stick with it. My goal is to gain size, build muscle, get stronger, and just become a better version of myself physically and mentally. I also want to exercise at home on days when I don’t have enough time to go to the gym. I’m thinking about getting a pull-up bar and doing things like push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, planks, etc. so I can still stay active.

For anyone who started out skinny or struggled to gain muscle, what actually helped you stay consistent and see results? Anything you wish you knew when you first started? I know motivation eventually fades, so I’m trying to build the discipline to keep going even when I don’t feel motivated.
I’m basically trying to turn a pretty shitty chapter of my life into something positive. So if you have any advice, encouragement, or even just some motivation to keep me going, I’d really appreciate it. Thank you and looking forward to seeing your responses.

Hey everyone, I've been lifting for 3 years and I'm tired of juggling 2-3 apps to reach my goals.

Right now my workflow is:

• Strong for logging workouts (best lifting app IMO)
• MyFitnessPal for tracking macros
• A spreadsheet to manually project if I'll hit my goal weight by [month]

The problem: These apps don't talk to each other. Strong doesn't know I'm bulking. MyFitnessPal doesn't know I'm training weak points. I have to manually connect the dots.

What I'm thinking of building:

An app where you input:

• Height, weight, goal (bulk/cut/recomp)
• Your weakest muscle group (e.g., back, shoulders)

Then it gives you:

1. Personalized workout plan that targets that muscle (breaking it down: lats, mid-back, upper back, etc.)
2. Nutrition plan with exact macros based on your goal and bodyweight
3. Weight projection graph that updates as you log workouts + meals (so you can see if you're on track to hit your goal)

The graph would adjust if you miss macros or skip workouts—basically showing "if you keep this up, you'll weigh X by [date]"

Questions for you:

• Would you use this instead of your current setup?
• What's missing from existing apps that frustrates you?
• Would you pay for this if it worked well?
• Am I overthinking this or is it actually useful?

Genuinely curious if I'm solving a real problem or if people are happy with the current fragmented approach.

Open to hear from all of you THANKS!

I recently joined my local planet fitness and I’m actually really excited to go. However, my gym anxiety is through the roof. I’ve never worked out at a gym for that reason and am constantly thinking that people are looking at me and making fun of me. I have no idea where to even start at the gym in terms of workouts and routines so I’m looking for some guidance. My goal is weight loss and building muscle at the same time. Does anyone have any tips for someone brand new to the gym and scared to even go?!!

So I currently am new to regularly working out, and as a plus sized person new to the gym space, I am afraid of working out with other people around. The gym I currently go to is my apartment gym, and I go late at night, and I can pretty much count on nobody being there. But I start college soon and they have a gym at my campus, and I think overall it would be good for me to use that gym. It has more equipment and a bigger space, but I will have to get used to being around people.

So I wanted to voice some of my anxieties and see if anyone has any input, or advice that would maybe ease some of my nerves. Some of these questions might be stupid, but I've never really been in a big gym with multiple people around, I have no idea what the environment is like.

First of all, I know that you should take a rest between your sets, I saw online a recommended 1-3 minutes. One time there was another lady in the gym while I was between sets and I felt SO AWKWARD. What do you do, or how long do you take between sets?

Also, sometimes when I'm working out, I'll like grunt, or strain when I'm getting towards the end of my set. I mean I'm not like, super loud or anything, but is that normal at the gym? Or should I just stop my set if i do that? Lol that might be dumb to ask..

I'm also really afraid of working out in front of people, and it turns out I'm actually doing something wrong. Again I'm a beginner, and not very strong still, I've done my research and from what I understand I THINK I'm doing everything right. But I would hate to show up and someone looks at me weird or tells me I'm doing something wrong. Is this something that would happen at the gym, or does everyone usually leave everyone alone?

Also, the way I enjoy being at the gym, or the way I see my workout time, is just playing around. I'll go around and use different equipment and machines, I'll space my sets out between cardio workouts or whatever. Is that weird? Should I not do that at a more public gym ? Lol that might be a dumb question too, but I don't just do one thing at a time typically at the gym. Obviously if doing that would inconvenience other people though, I wouldn't.

Honestly I am not opposed to going to this gym because I want to meet people, but I don't want to seem like an idiot.

Any input about gym anxiety or anything like that would be helpful, thanks :)

Hello!! I'm wanting to start building muscle but I have no clue what I should buy. I want to build muscle (focusing mostly on biceps and forearms) to help keep creeps away since I work in a creepy area (I've been followed to my car more times than I can count lol). I've never worked out before and there isn't a good gym near me. Any advice on what to buy and what routine to do would be awesome!!

I workout Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and rest Wednesday and Sunday. Can I switch Saturday and Sunday just for this week or will it impaxt my gains.
Also would it be an impact if I switched Tuesday and Wednesday just for the same week.

Hey im a short 5’0 chubby/fat and I’m looking for a fit in shape no nonsense gym friend! I want prime motivation not a weirdo lol just a good hearted person that likes and knows we the body need to be healthy. Please no creeps or sellers I’m serious also if you like to talk and have a kind heart. I’m a brown Smurf btw!

Hi, I'm gonna make this kinda quick. So I'm 17 right now, and I'm kind of interested in working out, I've tried working out at home but I keep being lazy and all of that. I'm not that bad in terms of my bad, I'm like 180 but I do have a little bit of fat in me and I want to start working out. I have a planet fitness nearby and an LA fitness, I'm wondering if these are good choices to start on and how should I discover what exercises to make? Hope everyone who sees this has a great day!

I am 17F, 127 lb, 5 ft 6. I used lift in the gym 4x a week or so and reach 10k steps everyday, but I wasn’t eating well. I began to neglect any type of exercise and I ended up losing a lot of muscle.

I guess I am what you would call “skinny-fat”. I can curl at most 20 lb and can halfass a push-up, but that’s about it.

I really honestly hate the gym and don’t like the drive there, so I wanted to look into body weight exercise but I feel so in over my head. I have some equipment at home, but very little energy. Today I downloaded Strava and decided to record how long I could run for. I’m embarrassed to admit it but I only ran 2 minutes and 26 seconds before I felt like I was gonna throw up and pass out…

I am basically completely free for the next two weeks so I want to use them to build up my habits before work/school starts. So I was wondering if anyone would be willing to help me plan like a daily routine building muscle, endurance, and healthy habits?

Any and all advice is welcome. I am also open to messaging privately if anyone’s up to it. (Weirdos will be blocked) thank you!!!!

Hey everyone. I’m a 5’5 22 year old woman and I can barely move. I’ve been in between 16st-18st for the last five years and I can’t stand it anymore.

Since having my son in 2024, it’s all I think about.
I tried wegovy. Couldn’t keep the weight off.

I’m starting the gym. No clue what to do. Where to start. I can’t even hold my son for more than a few minutes as my lower back ends up in agony.
I can’t walk for more than like 10-15 minutes, again without ending up in so much pain with my hips and my back.

I want to lose a ton of fat. I do want to gain muscle. I don’t want to train my chest. I also want to train glutes.

I have a huge issue with self-consciousness and confidence. I have non. Always struggled with mental health and motivation. Never really been an “active” person. Any tips for somebody like me? Any tricks? What would I start? What exercises could I do to start off with? Thank you if you got this far.

I see that the gym is the norm, but to me, pumping iron, repetitive movements, that make No Sense other than to build muscle, just strokes me backwards.

I love running, swimming, hiking, ice skating. I’ve tried to start up gym/home gym a couple of times because i like the idea of it. Is it me? am i just not fitted for it? It’s in my personality?

Btw before u start reading this just guiding me into a yt page that helped u begin in the gym will be really appreciated.
How do you all start? I know a gym that sounds good enough and I will subscribe there but what do I do? How to know what to do? I am going to the gym cause my orthopedic doctor said my muscles are weak and he recommended it, but then what i go lift weights? I walk on the treadmill for 10 mins? And there’s also smth about rounds like do 20 reps for 4 rounds how tf does that work?
Like how did yall start did u just copy someone routine and once u got educated u changed the routine for urselves? I need help please idk what am doing.

For those who have friends who go to different gyms (or even just have different schedules), do you still regularly talk about your workouts, ask each other about new PRs, compare lifts, etc.?
Or does everyone eventually just stop keeping track of what the others are doing?
I’m curious because I feel like comparing progress with friends can be pretty motivating, but once you stop going to the same gym, it’s easy to lose track.
How do you guys currently keep up with each other’s gym progress?

where’s the best place to start in the gym as someone who wants to be strong and fit, have visable jacked muscles as a woman, and eat cleanly on a budget. I want to start my journey for real this time. I’m doing it for my mental health, and anti aging. I’m a huge sunscreen wearer, and want to start lifting heavy because i’ve heard it helps slow cellular aging and keep bones strong af. To anyone who has done it, how do you build real muscle (almost like bodybuilders but not as extreme) as a woman just starting out?