Exercise

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Exercise is a gameplay mechanic in which the player can raise their passive skills, fitness, and strength. Players open the Exercise menu in the Health Tab to choose what exercises to do. Exercising will exert the player which will reduce endurance.

Exercises

Squats

Squat's Stiffness location.

Improves Fitness when performed regularly.

Stiffness location: Legs.
Benefit: Provides 4 Fitness XP per squat.

Push-ups

Push-up's Stiffness location.

Improves strength when performed regularly.

Stiffness location: Arms and Chest.
Benefit: Provides 6 Strength XP per push-up.; Provides 9 Strength XP per push-up with Protein Boost.

Sit-ups

Sit-up's Stiffness location.

Improves fitness when performed regularly.

Stiffness location: Abs.
Benefit: Provides 2 Fitness XP per sit-up.

Burpees

Burpee's Stiffness location.

Improves strength and fitness when performed regularly. Will drain endurance a lot.

Stiffness location: Legs, Arms, and Chest.
Benefit: Provides 3.2 Fitness and 4.8 Strength XP per burpee.; Provides 3.2 Fitness and 7.2 Strength XP per burpee with Protein Boost.

Barbell curls

Barbell curl's Stiffness location.

Improves strength when performed regularly.

A barbell is required to perform this exercise.

Stiffness location: Arms and Chest.
Benefit: Provides 7.2 Strength XP per barbell curl.; Provides 10.8 Strength XP per barbell curl with Protein Boost.

Dumbbell presses

Dumbbell press's Stiffness location.

Improves strength when performed regularly.

A dumbbell is required to perform this exercise.

Stiffness location: Arms.
Benefit: Provides 7.2 Strength XP per dumbell press.; Provides 10.8 Strength XP per dumbell press with Protein Boost.

Bicep curls

Bicep curl's Stiffness location.

A dumbbell is required to perform this exercise.

Stiffness location: Arms.
Benefit: Provides 7.2 Strength XP per bicep curl.; Provides 10.8 Strength XP per bicep curl with Protein Boost.

Summary

This table shows approximate experience per hour given by each exercise. These values were obtained in-game by performing each exercise for 30 in-game minutes (10 for dumbbell presses and bicep curls) uninterrupted, recording the total difference in experience, then doubling that difference (sextupling for dumbbell presses and bicep curls) and dividing by experience per rep; could use verification via source code analysis.

Exercise	Fitness per repetition	Strength per repetition	Repetitions per hour	Fitness per hour	Strength per hour
Squats	4.0	0.0	52	208	0
Push-ups	0.0	6.0	96	0	576
Sit-ups	2.0	0.0	72	144	0
Burpees	3.2	4.8	60	192	288
Barbell curls	0.0	7.2	?	?	?
Dumbbell presses	0.0	7.2	138	0	994
Bicep curls	0.0	7.2	108	0	778

The time it takes to make one repetition will increase as exertion level goes up. Anything higher than moderate exertion will add time to a repetition.

Stiffness (Exercise Fatigue)

Doing exercises will build up Stiffness, which eventually causes Exercise Fatigue. Exercise Fatigue will inflict pain. It will occur on some body parts, which depend on the exercise the player has done. The severity of the pain depend on a few things:

Time spent doing exercises.
Regularity of the exercise.

Having Exercise Fatigue on the arms will lower Melee Damage, and Attack Speed. Having Exercise Fatigue on the legs will make the player clumsier and slower.

Regularity

In the exercise menu, there's a bar called "Regularity" under every exercises, which increases as the player does more of that kind of exercise. Having high regularity will decrease the severity of Muscle Fatigue caused by that exercise.

Starting as a Fitness Instructor will give the player a big head start on Regularity in every exercise.
- Being Fit or Athletic will also give a slight head start.

Code

Code snippet! This section contains source code from Project ZomboidShow / Hide

Source: ProjectZomboid\media\lua\shared\Definitions\FitnessExercise.lua

Retrieved: Build 41.78.16

squats = {
	type = "squats",
	name = getText("IGUI_Squats"),
	tooltip = getText("IGUI_Squats_Tooltip"),
	stiffness = "legs", -- where we gonna build stiffness (can be a list separated by "," can be legs, arms or abs)
	metabolics = Metabolics.Fitness,
	xpMod = 1,
};
pushups = {
	type = "pushups",
	name = getText("IGUI_PushUps"),
	tooltip = getText("IGUI_PushUps_Tooltip"),
	stiffness = "arms,chest",
	metabolics = Metabolics.Fitness,
	xpMod = 1,
};
situp = {
	type = "situp",
	name = getText("IGUI_SitUps"),
	tooltip = getText("IGUI_SitUps_Tooltip"),
	stiffness = "abs",
	metabolics = Metabolics.Fitness,
	xpMod = 1,
};
burpees = {
	type = "burpees",
	name = getText("IGUI_Burpees"),
	tooltip = getText("IGUI_Burpees_Tooltip"),
	stiffness = "legs,arms,chest", -- where we gonna build stiffness (can be a list separated by "," can be legs, arms or abs)
	metabolics = Metabolics.FitnessHeavy,
	xpMod = 0.8, -- few less xp as it gives xp for 3 body parts
};
barbellcurl = {
	type = "barbellcurl",
	name = getText("IGUI_BarbellCurl"),
	tooltip = getText("IGUI_BarbellCurl_Tooltip"),
	item = "Base.BarBell",
	prop = "twohands", -- prop is where we gonna put our item, 2 hand, primary or switch (one hand, then the other every X times)
	stiffness = "arms,chest",
	metabolics = Metabolics.FitnessHeavy,
	xpMod = 1.2,
};
dumbbellpress = {
	type = "dumbbellpress",
	name = getText("IGUI_DumbbellPress"),
	tooltip = getText("IGUI_PushUps_Tooltip"),
	item = "Base.DumbBell",
	prop = "switch",
	stiffness = "arms",
	metabolics = Metabolics.FitnessHeavy,
	xpMod = 1.8,
};
bicepscurl = {
	type = "bicepscurl",
	name = getText("IGUI_BicepsCurl"),
	tooltip = getText("IGUI_PushUps_Tooltip"),
	item = "Base.DumbBell",
	prop = "switch", -- switch is special, as i have 2 anim, one for left hand and one for right, i'll switch every X repeat the hand used
	stiffness = "arms",
	metabolics = Metabolics.FitnessHeavy,
	xpMod = 1.8,
};