I'm 22M 1,76m 74kg. My body isn't that weak but isn't that strong, tho I'm actively working in my job. I want to start doing gym to build my body, and wanna know if 10 months of hardwork is enough to get my upper muscles not especially remarkable but clearer shape only (i have some belly fat but manageable), like focusing on those muscles especially (6 packs, chest, triceps and biceps, avant bras, shoulders)

If you know anything please tell me about your experience or something you witnessed before

I want what everyone else wants. to be healthy, strong, and have a good physique. Theres billions of people that want to look like their favorite anime character, and I’m in there somewhere too.

but I don’t want to just day dream about it. I want to DO it. I have the resolve and the time, but there’s too much information to filter.

there’s too much “do this exercise” then “NOOO don’t do that exercise, it’s missing too many muscles do this one instead” then it’s “actually, that exercise was good stick to it then progress to that other exercise.” “actually, forget all those exersises, you only need ‘this’.

im genuinely not trying to make excuses I’m READY to actually do this. I didn’t wait until new years, theres not a girl I’m trying to impress, and I have the resolve to work without motivation, I just want to stop being a loser that makes excuses for why he can’t do something. but Im paralyzed with information, and don’t know how to just start.

i just need direction.

Some bodyweight exercises I feel I have a very clear "failure" level.

For example, for regular pull ups with an 8kg weight, I can do about 10, maybe squeeze in 1-2. After that I can really feel the "weakness" in my back, arms and shoulders and cannot do any more complete sets. (I sometimes do "drop sets", maybe squeeze out another 5-6 reps unweighted, followed by 5-6 eccentrics).

But other bodyweight exercises I really feel unclear. It seems I can do way too many reps and am not sure if I'm fully exercising the muscle. I eventually stop just because of feeling out of breath or general fatigue. In theory I could push through the pain (and sometimes do) but it's just extremely unpleasant and punishing and I worry it will overly fatigue my body.

For example, I can do about 50-75 lunges with an 8kg weight before feeling very weak in my knees and puffed out. I begin to feel weak around 50. Then if I really push through the breathless feeling I can sort of squeeze out another 25 or so. Sometimes I actually do this and continue till about ~75 total. Eventually my form begins to break down. I seem to have a similar 50-75 rep range with other exercises like 8kg weighted sit ups.

Maybe my form needs a bit of work sometimes. For the lunges, it's generally Ok, but I notice I arch my back a bit sometimes. Also maybe I need to try and keep my legs more straight; for some reason my feet seem to always want to face outward and maybe this is not good for my form.

Would you suggest increasing the challenge somehow to reduce the number of reps?

My 8kg weight referred to here is my backpack. Do I need to add weight? Get a bigger backpack? Or should I be going for other dimensions like power/speed or increasing range of motion or different movements?

For abs I'm thinking maybe I need to do more leg raises with higher range of motion. For lower body, I'm thinking probably pistol squats and/or weighted single leg lunches (those I really do seem to max out at 25).

Curious to get your thoughts. Thanks

okay so i’ve been trying to get full pushups for a couple weeks now and have noticed small improvement. this is probably going to sound really stupid but bear with me. If i just keep doing pushups, even though they’re really bad and honestly can barely be considered push ups, will i actually get better and improve or should I try other exceesizes to help me improve? If so, what else should I be trying. I know that everyone says to do incline push ups, and i’ve tried, but i’ve noticed more progress from just doing repeated “half-push ups”. I’m very much a beginner and kind of just building from the ground up.

Female. 23. 5'7". 145lbs.

Okay- Being so fr fr- I had an eating disorder in 2021. I lost 30 lbs in 2 months (went from 155-125lbs) and lost my period about two months into trying to recover. But it was like- Quasi recovery?

Over the years I've been trying to find the right balance of exercise and eating. I started weightlifting in 2022-2025 where I was able to gain to about 135lbs where I stayed for that period of time. I was able to gain some strength but I would always stall and my composition still wasn't where I wanted to be and I still wasn't having a cycle. I was weightlifting 5-6x a week and would either speedwalk or run during that time for cardio also 4-6x a week. I was eating 1500-1800 calories during that time.

I started the RR last year but I was walking at 3-4mph for 1-2hrs every day and I was a nanny to two littles so they kept me on my toes (and the baby was 35+ lbs by the time I left🥵)

All this time, I never looked as muscular as I wanted and I would ALWAYS stall in terms of how far I could get in workouts. I've never been able to get past more than 2-3 progressions in an exercise before I stalled and adding volume just meant I would hit failure all the time and fatigue.

This year, I cut back on the walking, I did bodyweight fitness of some form or the RR (bodyweight routines I did that weren't the RR were comparable in terms of volume) for 5-6 days a week (3x full body routine 3x skill day/mobility) and 30 min of dance cardio 6x a week and tried to eat 2000-2100 calories a day because I was really trying to get my period back and hopefully put on some muscle.

I gained up to 145lbs and I hate my composition rn (I look like the photos of "skinny fat") I haven't gotten much stronger still and I STILL don't have my cycle back-

So- Idk- Cut back even more-?

I've stopped tracking food altogether. Just eat when I'm hungry stop when I'm full kind of system as I work with my dietitian while prioritizing protein. It's felt like more than I was eating before but I wouldn't know in terms of calories or anything.

I changed my workouts to a bodyweight routines (Nalamoves app since I have a Swedish ladder which that program is built around) 5x a week with maybe 1hr of Pilates or yoga on the skill and mobility days of that routine and NO cardio.

And tbh- I really just don't want to get any fatter because I know progressing in calisthenics can be harder if you're heavier- But maybe I haven't been building strength or muscle because my body hasn't been allocating energy towards that when it won't even ovulate. And I REALLY want to progress in my strength and start to develop real skills and get a few pull ups for once (I can't do ONE)-

I felt like I thought I was doing everything right but maybe I was just all wrong.

Has anyone been here? I would love to hear from some ladies. Can I finally build muscle, recomp a bit and get stronger in this stage? I'm so frustrated feeling stuck in my progress.