The Sims 4 Fitness Skill

Fitness in Sims 4 is a fun way for your Sim to earn plenty of Satisfaction point
s via completing all the regular Fitness Whims that spawn. It's also the perfect
opportunity for your Sim to get out and meet other Sims while jogging or at the
gym. There's no direct way to earn money in Fitness - i.e. a Fitness career, bu
t I will suggest a simple way to pay your bills while your Sim invests the many
hours necessary to cap the skill.
Good Traits for Fitness
Active - This is the clear no-brainer. Active Sims regularly get Energized which
is the ideal emotional state to maximize skill gain for Fitness. Active Sims ca
n also Pump Up other Sims (if you just envisioned the old SNL Hans and Franz ski
ts, then I'm right with ya).
Loves the Outdoors - A great trait given your Fitness Sim will undoubtedly be ou
tside jogging quite a bit. If you opt to go the non-career route, your Sim may a
lso spend time outdoors collecting rocks, frogs, and fishing to earn some extra
money, so the extra buff is always nice.
Bro - Since Bros can get Energized from watching Sports on TV and being Energize
d is a good thing for Fitness this trait makes sense. But, it's not a sure thing
like getting Energized from drinking Energy Juice. Oh, yeah - female Sims can a
ctually choose the Bro trait which is...weird
The Aspiration I chose for my Sim was Bodybuilder, the only one available in the
Athletic category. The bonus trait provided is High Metabolism which makes it e
asier for these Sims to stay in shape. The Bodybuilder Aspiration requires you t
o buy a couple pieces of exercise equipment to knock out the first stage. If you
're on a tight budget, complete the Aspiration component and then sell the gear.
The gym has everything you need.
Getting Started
Unlocking the Fitness skill could not be easier - just click on your Sim and cho
ose Go Jogging. Other options would be purchasing a punching bag or treadmill an
d interacting with those objects, or going to the gym. On the one hand, I miss t
he open world from Sims 3, but on the other hand, I do not not miss the travel t
ime it took to get to places like the gym. Just press M to view the whole neighb
orhood, click on the Gym building, and poof - no loss of time and your Sim is in
stantly ported right outside.
As you can see below, Gluteus has lots of moodlets boosting Energized for a prod
uctive workout at the Movers & Shakers Gym in Willow Creek. He's way overdue for
a shower, but his other moodlets offset that hit to keep his current emotional
state Energized.
Fitness Level Unlocks
2 - Discuss Workout Techniques with other Sims (social)
3 - Endurance Run (treadmill); Research Workout Tips on the computer
4 - Box (punching bag); Heavy Lifting (workout machine)
5 - Make Protein Shakes (bar); No Sweat Run (treadmill)
6 - Show off Muscles (social)
7 - Hill Challenge (treadmill)
8 - Epic Workout (weight machine)
9 - Practice Fighting (social)
10 - Mentor (social)
Let's Get Emotional about Fitness
Painters want to be Inspired. Tech Gurus want to be Focused. And Fitness Sims wa
nt to be Energized. The more moodlets that add to Energized, the faster the Fitn
ess skill gain. If you have enough moodlets going on and boosting Energized, the
n your Sim may jump to Very Energized for even faster skill gains.
Darwin Luna mentoring Gluteus. If your Sim gets Mentored chances are they will g
et Very Energized because the Exercising with Insight moodlet is +2 Energized.
Darwin: "The leg pads are where you put your feet, not your hands!"
Gluteus: "I got it, Yoda. Next time when I need your help I'll ask!"
So what things can your Sim do to boost Energized? Tons of possibilities here, s
o I'll mention a few simple ones: Watching Sports on TV can Energize you if you
have the Bro trait. Certain world items you dig up such as a Peach, Diamonds, Or
ange Topaz, and Simanite add if their Emotional aura is enabled. There is an Ene
rgized Potion from the Mixology skill. Researching Workout Tips on the computer
is another source.
An easy way to stack the Energized emotion is to eat a High Protein Energy Meal
(4 hour moodlet), take a Brisk Shower, (yielding a 4 hr buff) and follow up with
Drink Energy Juice (yielding a 3 hr buff) right before a workout. Gluteus just
finished his Energy Juice and you'd think he'd won the lottery.
A Short Satisfaction and Rewards Guide
When you start with a fresh Sim with 0 rewards you'll have to micromanage them a
lot simply because their needs will tank on a regular basis - peeing, eating, s
leeping, showering, etc. And the amount of time all of these mundane tasks take
is staggering and eats into your time for fun stuff like skilling, relationship
building, and exploring the world. Fulfilling lots of Whims (the 3 thought bubbl
es that appear above your Sim's head at the bottom left) is your simple solution
to obtaining the necessary Satisfaction to purchase rewards to make your Sim mo
re powerful and less "needy."
If you do not foresee being able to complete a Whim quickly - i.e. the same day,
click the x to cancel it so another Whim can fire that may be a better choice.
Many Whims can be completed in just minutes - like Enthuse About Interests, Do P
ush Ups, Do Sit Ups, Buy a Treadmill. Do as many Whims as you can to stockpile a
lot of Satisfaction. This puts you in a position to purchase rewards early to m
ake things so much easier. Note: Doing small Satisfaction Whims like Push Ups or
Sit Ups does not trigger the Fitness skill bar to appear above your Sim's head.
My goal was to get Gluteus 500 Satisfaction by Day 2 to purchase the Gym Rat rew
ard. This is a great reward for Fitness Sims who spend a lot of time in the gym
- your hygiene will not take a nosedive, plus working out will add to the Fun ba
r as well. Just remember that Brisk Showers boost the Energized emotion, so even
if you are not stinky, put a shower in your queue rotation to stack with other
moodlets.
Making Money While Pursuing Fitness
You honestly do not need a lot of money to get by if you're just trying to cap t
he Fitness skill - you'll need some money to pay bills, objects will break somet
imes and you may want to replace those, you can probably get by on eating a brea
kfast and then not again until dinnertime, you'll buy treadmills and punching ba
gs regularly to fulfill Whims, but then you can sell them again. Bottom line: yo
u can indeed get by on very little and not do a full blown career. One tip Carl
gave me is teleporting to one section of a given world to spawn rocks and frogs,
otherwise if you never travel the game saves resources and they simply are not
there. So load up the park world and do some jogging and after you are finished
there should be some rocks and frogs to collect and then sell.
Good Careers
If you decide to incorporate a career into the mix, then the one that initially
makes the most sense because of the Energized mood state is Criminal - in the hi
gher career levels it's no longer Energized but Focused and Confident. Healthy a
mounts of Fitness are required in the Astronaut and Secret Agent careers, so tho
se would also be a natural fit.
Finishing Up
I basically had Gluteus do a similar action sequence ever day - sleep, eat a hig
h protein energy meal, take a brisk shower, pee, drink Energy Juice, then it was
out the door to the gym. He was always Energized, and depending on certain fact
ors happening at the gym he could then elevate to Very Energized off and on. As
more challenging gym object interactions unlocked, such as Hill Challenge and Ep
ic Workout, those were my go to activities for the final push to cap the skill a
s they yield better results.
As the day wore on at the gym his various moodlets would run out and when he was
no longer Energized I had him go to the nearby park to collect frogs and rocks
for a little money, then just sent him home to start the whole sequence again.
One of the biggest sources of fun in Sims is gaining new socials and interaction
s as your Sim levels up a skill. At Fitness Level 6 Gluteus gains the Show Off M
uscles social. If you look at the Aspiration info below he actually needs to do
this 15 times as part of completing the 3rd component..
Another fun Fitness social is Mentoring a Sim which unlocks after capping the sk
ill. Your target Sim needs to be actively using a piece of exercise equipment. C
lick on the Sim, and choose Mentor. There are your typical rah rah animations yo
u'd expect but those are interspersed with some pretty scary faces akin to a thr
eatening drill sargeant. Just look at Gluteus' eyes and the baring of the teeth.
Poor Tylor Christian...
Given each succeeding skill level takes longer to achieve my goal was to get the
Savant reward (4000 Satisfaction) to speed up the last 2 skill levels. It was t
he only reward aside from Gym Rat that I purchased. A quick Enthuse About Intere
sts with..you guessed it...Don Lothario netted the last 25 Satisfaction to hit t
he 4000 mark and buy the Savant Reward. Yes!
I finally capped the Fitness skill on Thursday around 9 AM of Week 2. There was
a 3-4 day stretch where I did not focus on doing many Whims and could have bough
t Savant earlier if I had done that. But, it was not a race, and I just enjoyed
taking it a little slower and sampled a lot of new content.
Cooldown Set
Well, it's been a long time since I have written a Guide article. Hopefully, I w
as not too rusty. It's nice to get back into the swing of things with Sims 4 and
I am excited to tackle another skill very soon. The Fitness skill was a ton of
fun to explore, and I especially enjoyed the new animations of the socials. For
a couple of years when I was a teenager I actually wanted to be a bodybuilder, s
o this hit home for me.
The Long Lived Reward Trait gained after completing the Bodybuilder Aspiration i
s a nice bonus for players seeking to keep their buff Sim around for more fun, b
e it a career, starting a family, or whatever your heart desires.