Hey, so I'm making this thread just as something to help people get in shape.

How to get in shape...

1. Do heavy compound weightlifting 3 to 5 times a week. This means picking up the barbell and doing exercises at 4-6 reps. For smaller muscles you can go 8-10 reps. If you can do more than 6 reps on the big exercises like Bench Press or Squat you need to increase the weight. If you can do more than 10 reps on smaller exercises like calf raises, or ab pulldowns you need to increase the weight.

2. Eat a 500 to 750 calorie deficit (if you are cutting), or a 10% calorie surplus (If you are bulking)

3. Don't overtrain or undertrain.

4. Buy a book to help you learn the basics such as Bigger Leaner Stronger, Starting Strength, or 5/3/1.

Don't...

Do Keto. It doesn't work. Keto makes you lose fat, but it also makes you lose muscle. You'll go from big and looking like shit, to small and looking like shit.

Take advice from people on drugs.  Even a small amount of steroids will increase the average person's muscle growth by 2-3 times. The fitness industry is infested with people on drugs that only look that way because of the drugs.

Do bodyweight exercises (Unless you don't have a choice). While bodyweight exercises can get you progress they pale in comparison to heavy barbell work.

Do a ton of cardio. Don't jump on the treadmill and jog for an hour. Just change your diet. A single 300 calorie cookie takes 1 hour on the treadmill to burn off. It's just easier to not eat the cookie.


Massively underestimate your bodyfat percentage. There are a lot of different ways to measure bodyfat. Most of them suck. Go to a doctor or someone with a degree in exercise science once and a month and get your bodyfat professionally measured. The goal here is to get to 10% bodyfat as a man, or 20% bodyfat as a woman. 10% as a man will leave you looking ripped. Same goes for 20% as a woman. If you can't even see your abs just barely peaking out from behind your fat, then you aren't even 15% a a man, or 25% as a woman.

Get sucked in by the casuals or an incompetent trainer. Most trainers suck. Pick up a book, read it, and then you'll know more than 70% of trainers. Trainers that have you do silly Bosu Ball exercises, or little pink weights regimes, or step/cycling classes don't know what they're doing.

Expect quick results. If you are trying to lose weight you can expect to lose 1-2 lbs of bodyfat a week. If you are trying to put on muscle, you can expect to gain 0.5 lbs of muscle per week. Any person or program promising more than that is full of shit.

Get discouraged. It can take you up to a month to finally figure out how many calories you need for change. Your bodyweight will naturally fluctuate day by day. You need to weigh yourself everyday in the morning, and then average the weight over two weeks. If that two week average is moving in the direction you want it to then you are making progress.

I'm currently bulking up by doubling my intake in calories and doing no workouts whatsoever. Easily gained 5kg in the past few months. It's real easy too, anyone can do it.

Noble thread. Hope it serves people well.

I started working out again last month after a 2 month break where I just felt like letting myself go for a while, but now with lockdown again in london can't see my personal trainer who I borrowed equipment from.

Will probably get back into it mid - late January.

I've managed to maintain my weight over the last few months but can't seem to drive it down, in spite of making a lot of cuts to my diet.
It's hard in summer cos it gets very hot here which makes exercising very uncomfortable, and I don't feel safe going out to a gym these days.
Gonna try getting up early and jogging in the mornings, and regrettably cancelling pizza Mondays.

I disagree with don't do Bodyweight exercises. They and a good diet are perfectly fine for getting in shape/ fit.

If you want to become muscular, ripped, or massive, of course weights are much better.

They can get you in shape, but they take three times longer than weights and definitely have a limit to how strong they can get you. For example: You'll never be able to bench 1.5 times your bodyweight just from doing pushups. It already takes 3-5 years to hit your full genetic strength potential with weights. No reason to make that time even longer, by sticking to bodyweight exercises.

https://legionathletics.com/weight-loss-calculator/ Try using this calculator to find out how many calories you need. Try just losing about 1lb per week. That is, if you're finally out of the hospital and feeling well. Please, please, please don't try to diet if you are still fighting a disease! Cutting calories can weaken your body and immune system.

Thank you; as far as I know I'm not fighting anything at the moment, my cancer was removed 8 months ago and so far there's no sign it's come back.

Right, but you'd have trouble getting to even Cat. III on this chart with bodyweight exercises. Cat. III is considered intermediate and basically somebody of average to decent strength. There's a whole other chart for powerlifters, and people that want to get as strong as possible. This chart is just for normal people.

Did you miss the part where I said this chart was for normal people? That was just a general strength chart. Here's the powerlifter chart...



Getting to Cat. III on the first chart isn't going to make you look like a bodybuilder. It will make you look strong and athletic. Isn't that what getting in shape is all about? Looking lean, athletic and fit? Yes, I'm advocating that people use bodybuilding methods, but that's because they work. The whole idea that "the barbell is *only* for bodybuilders" is what keeps people out of shape their entire lives.

Picking up a barbell won't make you look like this...



It will make you look like this...

or if you're a Woman, like this...