Xavier Murphy 🥉

Grinding right away? That's no fun for your healthy kickstart. In my experience with kitchen gadgets, sometimes it's just the initial break-in period where parts grind a bit until they settle, I ran mine empty for a few sessions and the noise faded, but then again mine wasn't as bad as yours sounds. Check for any foreign objects lodged in there, like a stray label or foam bit from shipping. If it's persistent, might be a faulty motor bearing, which isn't a DIY fix unfortunately. Returning it could be smartest. Hang in there.

With 45 minutes three days a week, run a simple full body A/B plan that hits five patterns each session: squat, hinge, push, pull, and core. In a typical apartment gym that means things like goblet squat or leg press, Romanian deadlift or hip thrust or trap bar deadlift if available, dumbbell bench or machine chest press, one arm dumbbell row or cable row or lat pulldown, and a side plank or farmer carry. Alternate two versions so joints get variety, do 2 to 3 work sets of 6 to 12 controlled reps per exercise, and rest about 90 to 120 seconds between sets. Warm up with 5 to 8 minutes of easy bike or treadmill, then 5 minutes of dynamic prep such as bodyweight squats, hip hinges with a dowel or broomstick, shoulder circles, and finish with one or two light ramp up sets before your first two lifts. If your lower back gets cranky, prioritize neutral spine bracing, start with hinges that keep the weight close to your body like dumbbell RDLs and hip thrusts, and add bird dogs, dead bugs, and side planks for 5 to 8 minutes at the end. Pick starting weights using a two to three reps in reserve rule, meaning after your last rep you should feel like you could do two more with solid form, which is roughly a moderate RPE 7. Use double progression in an 8 to 12 rep range, add a rep each session until you hit the top of the range for all sets, then increase weight by the smallest jump available and drop back to the bottom of the range. Expect to add reps or a little weight most sessions for 3 to 6 weeks, then more like weekly. If a lift stalls twice in a row, hold the weight and try to add one rep somewhere or slow the lowering for more time under tension. Stop every set one or two reps short of failure, keep weekly volume around 6 to 10 hard sets per major muscle group, and take a lighter week every 6 to 8 weeks where you do about half the sets with the same weight. For form, film one set from the side and one from the front, and search for cues from reputable coaches like Alan Thrall for squat and deadlift, Starting Strength for the hip hinge and bracing, and Jeff Nippard for row and pulldown setup. Recovery keeps you from overdoing it, so walk on off days, sleep 7 to 8 hours, and aim for protein around 0.7 to 0.8 grams per pound of bodyweight with plenty of water. If pain is sharp or radiates and stop the lift and swap in a friendlier pattern.