So since the last 2 days, I’ve been building the courage up to start doing exercises. I’m starting with weights that were just collecting dust so thought “hell why not, never too late to start getting fit”
Now I’m being realistic knowing that starting off you’re not gonna be shredded like a wrestler but I’m just tryna get leaner and fitter body wise.
Is it reasonable for absolute novices to never go to the gym for their exercise and fitness journey? I feel like would be saving some dosh even though I could be missing on some equipment they use there.
A penny for your thoughts?
I workout at home. I’ve hit an age where gyms are just filled with too many beautiful people and nobody wanna see this.
A bench, adjustable dumbbells and a pullup bar will get you there. Lots of home/garage gym information out there. And then there is body weight training, yoga etc if you don’t want to work with weights.
But then there is the motivation and discipline factors. For me it is easy to put on a workout video but also easy to not really put in any effort. I’m bad at holding myself accountable at home. So instead I go the gym. One should also never ignore the social aspect of hitting the gym even if you seal yourself off with headphones and never talk to anyone. You do become part of the group/scene. And if your gym offers them I will recommend classes.
The biggest issue with working out at home is that people simply don’t do it. They think they do but they dont. I’ve yet to meet a fit person that doesn’t go to gym, but hey - maybe you’re the first one. Or maybe you should just go to the gym.
I’m a fit person who doesn’t go to the gym, but my house has an outbuilding that I converted into a nice home gym.
So you do go to gym
I have a friend who got VERY fit mainly with Beat Saber.
I have another friend who did the same with Supernatural (the game, not the show)
Weirdly, they’re the only two people I know who got in shape with VR…and they have the same first name.
Kettlebells! Kettlebells are a great tool to have for home workouts. You might want to start with a lighter one–even if you’ve worked out some, you can still wear yourself out with even a 35 lb. kettlebell.
I spend a grand on a nice adjustable dumbbell set and a bench and went from 165lbs to 210lbs over the last 18 months with a combination of weight training and eating better. It’s absolutely possible to work out at home with the resources that are out there these days. I do miss some of the equipment at the gym but the convenience of a home gym is just too good.
I would point out that getting lean/shredded is not a function of the gym, it’s a function of the kitchen. You cannot out exercise a bad or even mediocre diet. You can use a gym to build muscle, increase flexibility, or improve cardiovascular fitness, but there’s no avoiding making changes to your diet if you want to decrease body fat.
Look up calisthenics routines on youtube or reddit. The great thing about calisthenics is you almost only need your body weight. That means you can do it pretty much everywhere, even if you travel or move. If you can, I would join a group or maybe seek out a calisthenics class to start, mainly to give you tips & help with form. Long story short, it’s absolutely possible to workout at home, or outside of gym.
I’ve trained calisthenics, plyometrics and power yoga at home for years and I’m very happy with the results. Just search on Youtube for advice and workouts you like. Use your common sense: look for people focusing on tried-and-true ideas and don’t use performance enhancing drugs.
My favorite channels are Athlean-X, Calisthenicmovement, The Stone Circle and Breathe and Flow.
Also, get a mirror or film yourself to check your form, or have someone watch you. After a while, you’ll start feeling whether something is right or wrong, but at the start it’s useful to have a visual check.
The Athlean-x program is a great general fitness program. I have heard that there’s some controversy about Jeff inventing problems to make videos on, but the program is solid.
Basically everything is out of the physical therapy handbook.
My current “default” workout is based on one of his videos I saw years ago. It’s just a basic full body compound movement push, pull, hinge, squat 🔥🤩
I get a workout in 45 min if I need to and it feels great.
Can someone reply to this comment with pointers or guides on high-protein vegan/vegetarian diets for reducing body fat?
CaloriesIn - CaloriesOut = WeightChange
Fat forms using spare calories. Any diet that involves eating fewer calories than what you burn will reduce your body fat.
As long as you have that part right, you are free to add any other requirements on your diet you wish.
Realistically, people aren’t going to attain their goals trying to do a Twinkie CICO diet though, even though it might be theoretically possible.
I wish people would just move on from posting about CICO already, it’s long since outlived its usefulness as a concept
it’s long since outlived its usefulness as a concept
It is the critical basis on why all diets work. One can eat as healthy as they want, but if they eat more calories than they expend, they will gain weight. Tossing aside such a fundamental concept is fraught. Instead, build upon it.
OP wants to design a diet that has the following requirements: reduce body fat, vegan, high-protein. Vegan limits it to plants, and high-protein further limits it to things like beans and tofu. Now, OP needs to figure out how much beans and tofu he can eat to achieve his goal, and this is where calories in - calories out becomes critical. Eat the right amount and the diet works.
It’s the thermodynamic basis, but not the clinical basis. The carbohydrate insulin model of obesity is far more clinically relevant.
The human body is a hormonal machine, the hormones keep everything in check. As long as the hormones are functioning properly hunger and fullness will regulate body weight optimally.
To gain 1 lbs in a month it’s a 30 calories difference per meal. I don’t care how good your calorie tracking is, there is no way you can measure down to 30 calories per meal correctly.
It’s far easier to eat food that doesn’t spike insulin, and let the bodies normal feedback mechanisms regulate hunger.
Well, vegan foods with lots of proteins include: Beans, lentils, peas, nuts, peanuts, tofu, soy.
Personal favorites are red lentils (cook pretty quickly and don’t need to be soaked before) and pre-cooked white beans (I just have a jar of those in the fridge and will scoop a spoonful into all kinds of meals).Proteins are cool, because they stick around in your stomach for a while, but they’re bad at filling you up. For that, salads and veggies are the best. Sometimes, I’ll eat an entire bowl of salad, which is not a lot of calories, but still fills me up.
I would also recommend slowly changing your diet over. Your gut microbiota need time to adjust to a different diet. If you don’t give them that time, they can kill your will pretty effectively.
Yeah I exercised with only my body weight for many years. I was pretty fit. Now I started going to the gym and one thing I discovered was that i never exercised certain muscles before. I had wide arms but small shoulders. This is because at home, you usually dont have all the equipment to exercise all parts of the body.
This may be fine though. For me it was fine for many years. But now I wanted a larger upper body and that means shoulders and back and biceps.
When it comes to exercise the struggle isn’t doing it, it’s finding a routine that works for you. That’s the key, figuring out something you can do and make a habit of it so it becomes routine, like brushing your teeth.
I bought a collapsible bench and hand weights in late 2024 so I could cut the gym membership from my budget, and I’ve been able to maintain my usual habit of lifting 3-4 times a week. The added benefit is that it’s nice not to have to deal with other people or wait for equipment. You can learn better ways to work out from professionals for free on Youtube, and you can add equipment to your home gym over time.
It’s definitely reasonable to be new and never go to a gym.
I started with yoga and did it for over a year before I started going to the gym again. Fully doable
Very reasonable approach to start at home. You can get absolutely shredded doing just a small handful of body-weight resistance exercises: pushups, pull ups, squats, lunges, and maybe sprawls. That’s literally all you need. Add in some yoga or pilates routines occasionally to strengthen your core further, a ton of material for that on YouTube. Congrats on the big step of starting your fitness journey!
First off - I’m excited for you!! Your future self will be so fucking grateful.
I absolutely think at home workouts are a fantastic starting point.
I get the gym can be intimidating and if that stops you from working out then do something else.
But major note is: what’s your goal?
- Lose weight?
- Gain muscle?
- Just be stronger?
- Something else?
If you are trying to lose weight, your biggest goal should just be more activity + calorie deficit. You can only do strength so often and while it will help you lose weight, it’s way better to do strength + walking (or other easy cardio).
I recently lost about 15 pounds in the last 6 ish months and I did it by getting around 10,000 steps per day and 1-2 strength training days per week, and being on a calorie deficit.
If your goal is to gain muscle, then you can absolutely do that with minimal weights or just bodyweight at the beginning.
Personally this got a little boring (if just a lot of reps and for me doesn’t feel as fun as some of the gym equipment I use now).
But above all: DON’T underestimate the dieting portion. Whether your goal is to gain muscle or lose weight, what you eat is half if not more of the equation.
Happy to share more details but didn’t want to type a book without knowing what you need :)
Good luck!!
Ideally I just wanna lose my gut, I’ve already started cut back on alcohol and ONLY take two sweet treats in my lunch for work.
Oh and skipping the elevator and rather go up two levels of stairs to my workplace, I find that more rewarding as I think that’ll contribute.
Muscle gain wise, I’m starting off with bicep curls and over head press, nothing crazy.
I think I plan to lose the gut and flatten it before I do any sit ups lol.
Thank you for your message.
Totally feel that! Also one thing I learned is that a lot of my “gut” was actually bloat/gas built up. Like I noticed as soon as I started being more active I slimmed up faster than I should be able to, but I think my digestive system just did better.
Also something I forgot to note - get good sleep! I know it can be hard but getting at least 7+ hours of solid sleep every night does wonders for your body.
The only thing I think you might want to look into is doing compound movements (like squats, bench press, rows) instead of isolated movements like bicept curls. These activate a lot more muscle and overall help towards your goal of fat loss. You don’t need to work abs individually either - if you are doing squats and other compound movement with correct form, you’ll be hitting the too.
Of course not trying to tell you how to live your life! But this is what I’ve seen echoed from many different fitness resources and chatgpt. :)
I just wanna lose my gut
The most critical part of losing weight is counting the calories of what you eat, so you know exactly what you have to do to lose the weight. One pound of body fat is equivalent to 3500 calories, so if you can manage to eat at a 500-calories-per-day deficit you will lose one pound per week (most people lose scale weight at a faster rate than this when they first start dieting, but this is water weight loss and won’t be maintained in the long term).
Will drinking less alcohol and fewer sweet treats put you into a 500 calorie daily deficit? There’s no way to know unless you start recording the calories of everything you eat on a daily basis.
you can do a lot at home! if youre new to lifting consult your resources and work on your form. if you feel a little lost, you can always book a session or two with a personal trainer and they will teach you your way around weights. i was a trainer for about 2 years and most of my clients needed some corrections their first few sessions (and some reminders past that!)
Honestly it makes me sound like a shill but the Apple Watch / fitness+ stuff has been incredibly helpful and motivating. I went from not doing anything to getting at least 30 mins a day after about 6 months. I work from home and am the primary caretaker of a toddler so getting to the gym hasn’t really been in the cards.
The real trick is sticking to it. But I promise it’s worth it for you and everyone in your circle. You can do it!!
Agreed! Making it so brainless that it’s easy to stick to is KEY.
