Project Zomboid Fitness Hacks: Get Gains, Not Zombie Chomps

TL;DR – Get Fit or Die Tryin' (Quick Start)

Strap in, survivor – if you want to outrun zombies and swing weapons all day, you'll need to train that bod. Here's a Quick Start fitness plan:

1. Secure a Safe Spot

Find a zombie-free indoor area (your base or an empty room). This is your "gym." Barricade if needed – you don't want an unexpected visitor mid-push-up! For base building tips, see our zombie-proof walls guide.

2. Start Small, Aim Daily

Open the health panel (heart icon) and click "Exercise". Do a short session (10 minutes in-game) of Squats for Fitness or Push-ups for Strength. Stop if you hit moderate exertion. (Why squats? They give 4 fitness XP per rep – best for stamina training.)

3. Rest and Recover

Sit or lie down after exercising to recover stamina faster. Plan your workout about 12 hours before bedtime – that way the soreness ("Exercise Fatigue" moodle) will hit when you're sleeping. Sleep = free recovery.

4. Rinse and Repeat

Do another short session the next day. Consistency builds Regularity, meaning each day you'll get less sore as your body adapts. Don't jump from 10 minutes to 60 immediately – slowly increase duration over several days.

5. Stay Active Otherwise

When out looting, try to jog/sprint in bursts (you gain random fitness XP from running around). Fight zombies hand-to-hand when safe – each kill while not exhausted gives a bit of strength XP. For early survival tips, check our first week survival guide.

6. Eat for Gains

Prioritize protein-rich food (meat, beans). A high protein intake gives up to +50% strength XP gain, letting your exercises pay off more. Avoid going very low on protein (which would reduce XP).

7. Use Painkillers Only if Needed

If you do overexert and wake up with your character groaning in pain, you can take painkillers to dull it. But remember, painkillers just hide pain; you'll still be weaker until fully recovered. It's better to plan and not need them.

8. Be Patient & Careful

Don't try to rush from Fitness 3 to 10 in a week. Slow leveling is normal – even the strongest survivors take months to noticeably improve if starting from scratch. Avoid pushing so hard that you can't run the next day (that's how you become zombie chow).

Pro Tip: By following this routine, you'll steadily build your Fitness skill with minimal risk. Once you have a few weeks under your belt, you'll notice you can run longer and fight more zombies before getting tired.

Why Fitness Matters (Fitness vs Strength Explained)

In Project Zomboid, Fitness and Strength are your two passive skills – they define your physical capabilities. Here's the lowdown:

Fitness (Stamina & Endurance)

This determines how long you can exert yourself and how quickly you get tired. A higher Fitness level means you can run longer before becoming exhausted and recover from exertion faster. It even boosts running speed at the top end – the Athletic trait (Fitness 9) says you run faster and for longer.

In practice, a Fit character can kite zombies around the block; an Unfit character might start huffing and puffing after a short sprint. Fitness indirectly affects combat because swinging weapons and shoving zombies drains endurance – with high fitness, you can throw more punches before the "Exertion" moodle pops up.

Strength (Muscle Power & Carry Weight)

This affects how hard you hit and how much you can carry. Each point of Strength increases melee damage (important for killing zombies in fewer hits) and your carry capacity. A strong character can also push zombies away more effectively and knock them down easier.

Strength 10 (the Strong trait) gives +100% melee damage and significantly higher carry weight, letting you haul loot like a pack mule. In short, Strength helps you kill zombies faster and carry more supplies without getting slowed.

Which is more important?

It depends on your playstyle. Many argue that Strength has more immediate benefits (kill zombies quicker, carry that generator), whereas Fitness's benefits are more subtle until high levels. However, in prolonged fights or travel, low Fitness will cripple you – you'll get exhausted after just a few swings, which can be a death sentence.

Ideally, you want both a decent Strength and Fitness for a well-rounded survivor. For example, a common build is taking Athletic (+4 Fitness) and Strong (+4 Strength) at character creation, giving you level 8 in both to start. This lets you largely ignore the passive grind early on.

Important Note: XP multipliers from traits/books do NOT apply to Fitness or Strength. The Fast Learner trait (+30% XP) specifically excludes these passives, and there are no skill books for them in vanilla. So everyone has to put in the work, one way or another, unless you use mods or sandbox settings.

Build 41 vs Build 42: Fitness System Changes

With Build 42 shaking things up, let's compare how the fitness mechanics differ from the long-standing Build 41:

Aspect	Build 41: Exercise Fatigue	Build 42: Muscle Strain
What Triggers it	Only formal exercises (player-initiated via Exercise menu).	All strenuous activities: exercise, melee swings, sprinting, heavy load, even bad sleep can contribute.
Onset Timing	Delayed (~12 hours after exercise you feel the pain).	Gradual/Immediate – strain builds up as you exert yourself, you might feel it during the activity or right after.
Affected Areas	Specific to exercise used: e.g. Push-ups cause arm/chest fatigue, Squats cause leg fatigue.	Specific to body part used: swing axe = arm strain, lots of running = leg strain, lots of stomping = leg strain, etc.
Duration	Typically ~1 day of pain debuff, then it fades (natural recovery).	Varies by severity – light strain might clear in hours, heavy strain can last a day or more. Frequent rests can shorten it.
Mitigation	Increase Regularity (doing exercise often) to reduce future soreness; only exercise when safe; use painkillers if needed.	In-game: higher skills/fitness mean you incur less strain. Tactically: pace your attacks, use lighter weapons, rest in-between fights to reduce buildup. No "regularity" for combat, unfortunately.

Exercises & Equipment

Build 41 introduced the basic exercises – squats, push-ups, sit-ups, burpees – accessible via the health panel. In Build 41, some gym equipment items existed (dumbbells, barbells, weight bench) but were purely decorative (you couldn't actually use them to work out).

Build 42 finally enables some of these: you can perform barbell curls and dumbbell presses if you have the gear. The weight bench itself is still non-functional (as of early B42 beta) – it's basically a fancy chair. But you can do the barbell exercises standing up. This added variety mostly affects Strength training (curls/presses give Strength XP, similar to push-ups).

Passive XP from Activities

In Build 41, you'd gain a trickle of Fitness/Strength XP from certain actions: sprinting could randomly give Fitness XP, and melee hits on zombies (when not exhausted) gave a tiny bit of XP to both Strength and Fitness.

In Build 42, one notable change reported by players is that combat and strenuous activity can cause muscle strain, but the XP gain rules remain largely similar. You can still gain Strength XP from using your muscles in general. For example, fighting while over-encumbered (carrying >50% of your capacity) definitely yields extra strength XP in both B41 and B42.

Build 42 did not suddenly make leveling easier – the devs have kept the slow progression intact, at least so far.

In Build 41, you could ignore fitness unless you chose to exercise. In Build 42, fitness (and muscle condition) will demand your attention because regular gameplay itself can make you sore. Training strategies need to adapt.

Leveling Strength: Pumping Iron (and Other Things) 💪

Leveling Strength in PZ can feel like a slog, but there are multiple ways to make those gains. Strength increases come from activities that make your muscles work:

1. Formal Exercises (Push-Ups, Burpees, etc.)

Using the exercise system is the straightforward method. By default:

Push-ups give ~6 strength XP per rep and primarily exercise arms/chest.
Burpees give ~4.8 strength XP (and 3.2 fitness XP) per rep since they're a full-body exercise.
Barbell/Dumbbell exercises (B42) – Barbell curls, dumbbell press, etc., each give ~7.2 strength XP per rep, making them the most XP-heavy per rep (you need the equipment though).

However, exercises also cause immediate fatigue after a set duration. Typically, you might do 30 minutes of push-ups and end up with a few hundred XP and very sore arms for half a day. Because of that downtime, exercises alone aren't the fastest way to grind strength unless you dedicate days to it.

2. Fighting Zombies (Melee Combat)

Every time you hit a zombie with a melee attack (and you're not exhausted), you gain a tiny bit of strength XP. It's a very small amount, but over hundreds of swings it adds up.

If you kill, say, 200 zombies with melee, you'll see noticeable progress in your strength XP bar. Using heavier weapons doesn't directly give more strength XP, but heavy weapons tire you faster (meaning fewer swings).

Some players prefer using moderate weapons like a baseball bat for training – it lets them kill many zombies without resting, maximizing XP events.

3. Heavy Load Training (The Pack Mule Method)

This is a pro tip/trick many in the community use: fight or move around while carrying a heavy load. If you carry more than 50% of your max weight, the game grants strength XP periodically for "straining" under the load.

Now, combine this with combat – e.g., carry a duffel bag filled with logs (very heavy) in your off-hand while you go zombie clearing with a one-handed weapon in the other. You'll gain strength XP from swinging and from moving under heavy load simultaneously.

Just be careful: being over-encumbered slows you down, so have a hotkey ready to drop that bag if things get dicey! This method essentially turns everyday zombie slaughter into a workout session.

4. Chopping Wood & Construction

Chopping down trees with an axe uses strength, and many believe it contributes to strength XP (at least if you do it while carrying a lot). There's anecdotal evidence: one user noted "I've noticed you also get some (strength XP) from chopping wood while over encumbered".

If you're playing a long-term run where you'll be building a fortress, doing all that carpentry while lugging supplies could naturally raise strength.

Maximizing Strength Gains, Minimizing Pain

The fastest way to level strength is to integrate it into your gameplay. Here are some tips:

Whenever you go out looting, intentionally over-pack a bit (carry that extra full jerry can or a bunch of books) so you're slightly encumbered. Every step is then training.
Fight zombies regularly (safely). If you usually stealth or avoid fights, you're missing out on XP. Find a balance where you can handle groups of 5–10 zombies and take them out with melee.
Use variety: If your arms are sore from yesterday's push-ups, do squats today (to work legs for fitness instead, giving arms a rest).
Eat well: As mentioned, protein intake massively influences strength XP. With a high protein diet, that 6 XP per push-up becomes 9 XP. That's a huge difference over hundreds of reps. So cook those hunted rabbits or cans of tuna.

Pro Tip: If you find strength leveling too slow, remember you can adjust "Passive Skill Bonus" in sandbox settings. Many multiplayer servers crank up passive XP gains (some go 2x, 5x, even 10x). A setting of 1.5x or 2x XP can alleviate the grind without spoiling balance. For multiplayer setup tips, see our co-op survival guide.

Leveling Fitness: Cardio is King 🏃

Fitness is notoriously one of the slowest skills to level in Zomboid. As the joke goes, "If you need fitness experience… lol, lmao" – implying you're in for a grind. But it's doable, and worth it if you plan to survive long term (especially in B42's harsher world).

1. Formal Exercises (Squats, Sit-Ups, Burpees)

These are your main tools for direct Fitness XP:

Squats –
Provides 4 fitness XP per rep. Squats only use your legs, so they'll make you sore below the waist but leave arms fine. This is great because even if your legs hurt, you can still swing weapons (just don't expect to run fast).
Sit-ups –
Only 2 fitness XP per rep, targeting the core. They cause torso pain (abs). Torso muscle fatigue isn't too bad; it slightly reduces carrying capacity and combat speed, but not as crippling as arm or leg pain. Some players prefer sit-ups as the "safest" exercise to spam for XP.
Burpees –
Mixed XP (3.2 fitness, 4.8 strength per rep). These exercise both arms and legs (full body workout), so you'll be sore all over. Burpees give a good balance of both skills, but the downside is if you overdo it, you're basically weakened head to toe.

Because fitness XP per rep is relatively low, you often need longer exercise sessions to see gains. But long sessions = extreme fatigue. The key is Regularity. The first time you do 30 minutes of squats, you'll be in agony (low regularity penalty). But if you push through and do it daily, within a week your regularity bar for squats will be near full, and you'll get much less sore from the same workout.

2. Running and Moving Around

The good news is you can gain Fitness XP without explicitly "training". Whenever you are running (holding Shift to sprint) or even jogging, the game occasionally gives you XP in either Sprinting skill or Fitness skill. It's random which one, but essentially as you move on foot, you're slowly improving cardio.

How to leverage this:

Run everywhere feasible: Need to go from your base to the shed out back? Jog. Traveling down a road you believe is safe? Sprint in short bursts.
Fence Hopping: Repeatedly vaulting fences or climbing sheet ropes can exhaust you and might give some fitness (though vaulting primarily builds the Nimble skill).
"Exercise" while doing chores: e.g. If you have a big field of crops, do a sprint along the perimeter each morning as a routine.

Efficient Fitness Grind Tips

Focus on Squats early: Since squats give a decent 4 XP and only punish your legs, you can still defend yourself with a weapon (arms fine) if something happens. Do short squat sessions daily.

Use the VHS trick: Watch "Simon's Fitness Club" VHS tapes while exercising for a big boost to regularity gain. Find those tapes in VHS stores or houses.

Alternate muscle groups: Monday squats (legs), Tuesday push-ups (arms), Wednesday sit-ups (core), etc. This rotation lets one muscle group rest while another works.

Rest is part of training: After you do a workout, immediately rest (sit/lie down). Ensure you get a full night's sleep – being well-rested helps your endurance regen the next day.

Accept slow progress: Fitness XP is just slow. Even doing everything "right," you might only gain a level after a month or more. Don't be discouraged; the benefits ramp up at higher levels.

Warning on Overdoing It: If you try to go from couch potato to marathoner overnight, you will suffer. We're talking extreme exhaustion, injury, or just being a liability. Over-exercising can give you such severe pain that your character moves like they're injured. So gradually increase volume, and if you see the "Exhausted" moodle, stop everything and rest.

Managing Fatigue: Sore Today, Survivor Tomorrow

Anyone who's hit the virtual gym in PZ knows the aftermath: muscle fatigue. Let's talk about how to deal with that constant companion in your training journey.

Exercise Regularity – Your Best Friend (Eventually)

When you start exercising in PZ, your character is not used to it. The Regularity stat (visible under each exercise in the workout menu) starts at 0% for things you've never done. As you repeat an exercise day after day, that regularity climbs, up to 100%. Higher regularity = less muscle fatigue and pain from that exercise. Think of it as your body adapting.

At 0% regularity:
expect massive soreness. A 30-minute session might leave you debilitated for a whole day.
At 50%:
the soreness is milder and recovers faster.
At 100%:
you still get some muscle ache (no avoiding it entirely), but it's very manageable – maybe just a few hours of discomfort.

How to increase Regularity fast? Consistency. Do at least a short session every day or two. Watching the exercise VHS tapes can dramatically boost how quickly the regularity bar fills (almost like getting double credit for each workout).

Also, you get a small regularity boost even for stopping an exercise early. So, doing two 10-minute sessions on separate days raises regularity more than one 20-minute session in one day. This encourages spreading your workouts out.

Pain Management 101

Despite all precautions, you'll inevitably get sore or even strain something. Here's how to cope:

Resting

The simplest remedy. If your legs are on fire from yesterday's squats, maybe take it easy and do nothing strenuous today. In-game, just staying idle will let fatigue timers tick down. You can accelerate this by sitting on a chair or ground (resting posture) – it actually helps muscles recover faster (as confirmed by devs, resting doubles recovery rate).

Sleeping

Sleep is the best cure. Time your exercise so that the worst of the pain hits when you're sleeping. You might go to bed "feeling fine" and wake up with muscle stiffness – but you effectively skipped the part where it hurt most. Also, a good night's sleep will shave off a chunk of that fatigue time. If something says 8 hours of pain left and you sleep 6 hours, you'll wake with just 2 hours left.

Painkillers

In Project Zomboid, painkillers (like the bottle of pills you find in bathrooms) will remove the pain moodle. This can allow you to function if you absolutely must do something while sore (e.g., a raid or fight). However, painkillers do not restore your lost strength or speed from fatigue; they just stop the screen blur and panic from pain. Your character will still be weaker until the fatigue naturally heals. Use painkillers as a crutch only when needed.

Avoid stacking strain

If you're already sore in one area, try not to use that area heavily. For instance, if your arms are sore, maybe don't go swinging a heavy axe at 50 zombies. You'll worsen the strain and potentially extend the recovery. Switch to a handgun or just focus on running (legs) that day.

Pro Tip: The game actually calculates fatigue with some hidden values. It's been observed that muscle fatigue won't start decreasing until some time after you finish exercising, and heavy strain can "stall" recovery. So don't freak out if the soreness doesn't immediately fade after you stop moving; it has a bit of inertia. Fully rest – do nothing – for a while to let recovery really kick in.

Survivor's Workout Plan (Putting It All Together)

Let's outline an example weekly training plan for our survivor in Build 42, combining everything we've discussed. This assumes you have a relatively safe base with some room to move, and you're balancing looting runs on some days.

Day	Plan	Notes
Day 1 (Start of Week)	"Assessment & Light Start" Morning: 10 minutes of squats (leg day lite) Afternoon: Fight a few zombies while carrying extra gear Evening: Watch "Simon's Fitness Club E1" VHS	You begin moderately out-of-shape (Fitness 3, Strength 3). By evening, you're slightly sore in legs, but it's manageable.
Day 2	"Alternate Muscle" Morning: 10 minutes of push-ups (work those arms) Afternoon: Read skill books, organize loot Evening: Take one painkiller before bed	Legs are a bit stiff, so skip squats. Because it's your first time doing push-ups, your arms feel like jelly after. No combat today. Sleep through the rest of the pain.
Day 3	"Cardio Day" All Day: Loot run to nearby neighborhood - Jog between houses - Sprint short bursts through open fields - Vault fences - Engage 10-15 zombies in melee	No formal exercise. By evening, you're tired (normal exertion) but no specific muscle strain – just overall fatigue. Good time to rest.
Day 4	"Leg Day + Protein Feast" Morning: ~20 minutes of squats Midday: Cook a big pot of chili with lots of meat Afternoon: Practice carpentry (low physical demand) Evening: Go to sleep early	Thanks to doing squats on Day 1, your regularity is ~30% now, so the 20 min isn't as punishing. Night: legs ache, but sleep helps recovery.
Day 5	"Upper Body + Combat" Morning: 20 minutes of push-ups Afternoon: Combat a large horde (helicopter event) Evening: Rest in safehouse, take painkillers	Legs are recovering, arms are fresh. After killing 30-40 zombies, your swings slow – arm strain + exercise fatigue. You must rest. (But you gained tons of strength XP from fighting!)
Day 6	"Recovery and Maintenance" Most of day: Fishing or reading (low impact) Evening: 5-minute round of sit-ups	By end of Day 6, your arms finally feel okay again. Light sit-ups just to keep regularity up (core exercises).
Day 7	"Mixed light routine" Morning: Circuit training (10 min squats, 10 min push-ups, 5 min sit-ups) Afternoon: Long walk/jog to map escape route Evening: Early to bed	No pain moodles today. This gives XP to both skills and keeps regularity improving across the board.

Results after one week:

Perhaps your Strength is now halfway through level 3 to 4, and Fitness similarly progressed. Not huge jumps, but you've built a routine. Your regularity for squats might be 50%+, push-ups 50%+, sit-ups ~20%. Next week, you can handle 30-minute sessions with less trouble.

You've also probably gained one sprinting skill level from all that running (bonus!). More importantly, you survived and got stronger concurrently.

The specifics will vary, but the principles remain: alternate muscle groups, mix training with actual gameplay tasks, eat well, and listen to your body. If you see High Exertion or Extreme Panic from pain, it's time to chill.

Cautionary Tale: I once had a character who ignored fitness entirely until month 3, then tried to do a 1-hour burpee marathon. He got so sore he could barely move, and of course, that's when a roaming horde decided to visit my house.

Lesson learned: Gradual training is key! By planning like this, you avoid leaving yourself weak and vulnerable.

Take It to the Next Level: Tools, Mods, and Advanced Tricks

By now, you have a solid grasp on vanilla training. But what if you want to optimize further or change up the experience? The community has you covered with some great tools and mods:

1. PZFans Exercise Planner & Fatigue Calculator

The website pzfans.com offers a neat interactive planner. You input your character's fitness, strength, chosen exercise, and it outputs how much XP you'll get and how much fatigue to expect. It even factors in your diet protein level and regularity!

This can help you figure out, for example, how many days of 30 min squats it'll take to reach the next level, or what happens if you do push-ups while on a low-protein diet (hint: not as effective).

There's also a muscle strain calculator to simulate combat strain – useful to visualize how a big fight will affect you. If you love numbers, check it out. (No need to alt-tab mid-game, but as a planning tool between sessions it's gold.)

2. Mods for Easier Training

Maybe you're more interested in the survival aspects and less in the hardcore grinding. There are quality-of-life mods that make leveling fitness/strength less tedious:

Skill Book Mods for Fitness/Strength:
Mods like "Jackpot's Skillbooks" add skill books for passive skills. So you can read an "Advanced Fitness" book to get an XP multiplier, just like other skills.
XP Multiplier Mods:
"Standardized Passive XP" lets you configure a boost to just fitness and strength XP. You could set it so they gain at 2x rate, making the game assume a more "realistic" improvement pace.
No Exercise Fatigue (Cheat-y):
If you truly don't want to deal with pain, there are mods that remove or drastically cut down exercise fatigue.

3. Mods for More Realistic/Challenging Training

On the flip side, if you think PZ is too easy on the fitness side:

More Muscle Ache:
This mod makes it so every time you use your muscles (running, melee, etc.), you get fatigue as if you exercised. Essentially, it extends Build 42's concept even further. Kill 100 zombies = arms feel like you did 100 push-ups.
Fitness Training Overhaul (Bench Press & Treadmill):
The popular "Fitness & Workout Overhaul" mod adds functional treadmills and bench presses. With it, you can build or find a treadmill, power it, and then use it to run in place for Fitness XP.
Exercise Enhancements:
Smaller mods like one that lets you do exercises while sitting or carrying weights. E.g., doing push-ups with a heavy backpack to increase difficulty (and XP) – akin to real life weighted calisthenics.

4. Trait and Stat Mods

Some mods add new traits related to fitness. For example, a "Gymnast" trait that might start you with higher fitness but lower strength, or a "Bodybuilder" that does opposite. There's even a mod that introduces negative effects for being too fit/strong (diminishing returns) to balance late-game characters, but that's more of a custom rebalance.

5. Multiplayer Server Tricks

If you play MP, check server settings or ask admins – many servers buff passive XP or even have community gyms built in safe zones. On some RP servers, there are gyms with treadmills (modded) that characters can use, and they run events like "push-up contests".

It sounds silly, but it can be a fun way to incorporate training into the narrative so it's not just a background grind.

Finally, if you want to skip the training entirely (maybe you lost a long-term character and don't want to grind up again), you can use the Character Editor or Cheat Menu mod to just give yourself a desired Fitness/Strength level. Some players do this to approximate that their new character has been surviving a while already. There's no shame in customizing your experience if it keeps it fun for you.

FAQs: Burning Questions on Fitness in PZ (Build 41/42)

Why isn't my fitness level increasing at all?

Fitness increases very slowly. If you're not doing dedicated exercise, you might barely notice the bar move. Make sure you are occasionally sprinting or exercising.

Also, check that you're not severely malnourished – being underweight/overweight can indirectly hinder your progress (less endurance to even perform exercises, etc.). It's normal for fitness to take a long time; consider taking the Athletic trait next run if you want to start higher.

Does running from zombies count as exercise?

I have the "Very Underweight" trait. How does that affect training?

Is it true you get a 50% XP boost from protein? How do I know if I have it?

I've maxed regularity at 100%, but I still get a little sore – why?

Can I lose Fitness/Strength levels if I don't exercise or if I starve?

What's the deal with that "XP Boost 125%" I see on my Fitness skill?

Can I build a treadmill or use one I found?

My friend on a server leveled fitness twice as fast as me, what gives?

Is it worth grinding fitness to 10?

Conclusion: Train Hard, Survive Longer

Fitness in Project Zomboid isn't just an RPG stat – it's the difference between life and death on a bad day. Build 41 gave us the tools to train our survivor like an RPG character, and Build 42 doubled down by making physical condition a constant factor in gameplay.

Yes, it can be grindy to level up, but the process can enrich your playthrough: it encourages establishing a safe routine, valuing nutrition, and taking calculated risks for long-term payoff.

Remember, in the apocalypse, strong is good, but strong and fit is way better. You want to be able to smash a zombie's head in... and then sprint away from the 50 others coming around the corner, without collapsing.

So, tape up those knuckles, grab that protein bar, and get to training. Before you know it, your formerly feeble survivor will be an athletic powerhouse capable of running circles around the undead.

Stay safe, stay fit, and as they say in the gym: "Feel the burn!" (Just make sure it's muscle burn and not a zombie bite.) Good luck, survivor!

Patch History: Fitness Evolution

Sept 2020

Build 41.44 (IWBUMS Beta)

Introduced the fitness exercise system (squats, push-ups, sit-ups, burpees) with associated fatigue and Regularity mechanics. This was a major overhaul allowing players to train passive skills at the cost of temporary pain.

Dec 2021

Build 41.65

Polishing phase. Notable fix: "Fixed initial Fitness XP not being set to level 5" (some characters started with incorrect XP). Also fixed an exploit where you could gain Fitness XP by starting exercises while aiming a weapon (no more sneaky gains).

Dec 2022

Build 41.78

Last big stable patch for 41. Fixed several fitness bugs: e.g., "Fixed being able to do Fitness during sleep and while sitting in a car" (you used to be able to queue exercises and essentially train while unconscious – that's gone). Also allegedly fixed an issue where a certain method of leveling fitness (possibly an animation cancel) no longer worked.

Dec 2024

Build 42.0 (Unstable Beta)

Enabled combat-related muscle strain for the first time, meaning players could get sore from fighting/running, not just manual exercise. This fundamentally changed how stamina and fatigue need to be managed in combat scenarios.

Jan-Mar 2025

Build 42.1 - 42.5 (Unstable updates)

Gradual tweaks based on tester feedback. Some XP gain adjustments were mentioned. For example, Build 42.3 rebalanced weapon exertion (indirectly affecting how quickly muscle strain accumulates). Also by 42.5, the new exercise options (dumbbell press, barbell curl) were confirmed working, though the bench press item remained non-functional. No significant change to XP curves yet.

Build 42

Nutrition Integration

Though not a single patch, by B42 the long-existing protein XP boost mechanic became more widely known/tested. It remains at +50% strength XP for high protein. A forum post in Mar 2025 highlighted inconsistencies (one file sets protein cap -500, another -1500), implying this system might get refined in future patches. Developers continue to monitor balance. Future patches may further adjust fatigue mechanics or introduce new ways to train as Build 42 progresses to stable release.