this post was submitted on 27 May 2025
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I just turned 40, and for the past 5 or so years I have been unhappy with the way I look.

All my life my metabolism has been insane, I could literally eat anything all day and not gain a gram, which has its downsides as well, but not the point.

My weight went up to 80kg and I formed a pot belly which I didnt like. One night I decided enough was enough, started a diet and exercise routine.

I did look at gyms but they are stupid expensive where I live, so I bought a resistance band thing from InnStar. Its like a Gymproluxe if you have been bombarded with Facebook ads. I use it every day for bench press, preacher curls, and some other things I dont know the name of.

I also started using a body weight exercise app that claimed results in a month.

The diet I thought would be hardest, but I immediately stopped all snacks and moved onto a weightloss protein shake which are amazing and I cant believe it took this long to taste them.

Its been a week, and I feel better, Im not sleeping as much, I look forward to exercise, I am much more physically active than before, but I dont feel like I look any different. I am not expecting instant results and I havent booked myself into a Mr World contest this weekend, but I am curious to hear real experiences of when people started to notice their own changes.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago (3 children)

It’s going to be an uphill battle to get in shape without proper gym equipment. Even among those who start going to the gym, most end up quitting because it’s a lot of effort and the results don’t come fast enough. Trying to work out at home makes it even harder. To gain muscle mass, you need to be lifting at the absolute limits of your strength - and that’s really difficult to achieve outside of a gym setting. It can be done, but I generally advise against it, because the odds are stacked against you.

Also, keep in mind that you can’t effectively lose weight and build muscle at the same time.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I disagree on it being difficult to build muscles without a gym. Most exercises with your body weight will be more than enough for the first years of training.

For people who start at maybe being able to do 5 push-ups, hitting the point where push-ups wont train them for muscle growth will take a long while. Also what kind of muscles do you want? big packs that can do 10 reps at huge weight, but fail you while unloading a moving truck? Or muscles that are well trained for endurance and stamina? For being fit and healthy i recommend the second style.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

The issue isn’t that you can’t get a proper workout without gym equipment - it’s that most people simply don’t stick with it. They start training at home, but it becomes more and more infrequent until they stop altogether. Getting a gym membership tends to create more accountability, and I think going to the gym is actually an easier habit to build than working out at home.

Even for me, with a gym membership, I’ve noticed that if I go home between work and the gym, I’m much more likely to skip the workout. But if I go straight to the gym - having already decided to do so and with my gym bag packed - then I might as well do the workout since I’m already there.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago

Thanks, I appreciate the input.

I understand that this whole process is going to be more difficult without a gym, but financially its not feasible just yet. Also because I am at the beginning of the process, I figured I would wait until I knew I could stick at it, rather than start a subscription I dont use.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I gained a reasonable amount of muscle mass from just doing pushups 100+ every day, no weights at all.

Enough that my t shirts felt a lot tighter anyway, and friends noticed too.