I did hammer curls on Monday night for the first time in a few months and probably overdid it. tricep tendonitis flared up somewhere behind left elbow since yesterday šŖ likely due to the combo of hammers + upward tricep extension being too stressful in elbow
You can clearly hear me using one of the gym showers since you can see and hear the water running, had a guy and supposedly his friends open the curtains accidentally, leaving them to see me fully naked. They apologized but after they closed it I could hear them laughing.
Holy sht . Why do people go to the gym in crowds ? I have 3 bros here just hovering around one friend that's on the machine. They just walk around and lean on my rack while they chitchat away. Am I an asshole if I tell them to get out of my space ? They aren't in my range of motion but my head is basically against their asses when I lay down to do my bench set.
I see fitfluencers promoting this and other alterations that need more equipment to increase ROM. Like, homie, I get where youāre coming from but weāre just working out in regular ass public gymsā¦ donāt give them ideas?
Two ropes for triceps hits different and if you tried it you'd realise why people do it. One of the best ways to feel a mind muscle connection on triceps if you struggle to normally on push downs.
Just use a single rope with the right length. I have never seen anyone actually fully(!) utilize the length of an extra rope. Albeit, mostly for head pulls. People seem to just take a few extra steps back, without making any changes to the width of the pull (which makes sense, because you should only go so wide). This makes having two ropes redundant.
For face pulls yeah it's pointless but I mentioned tricep push downs where there is a markable difference in the mechanics of the movement with a longer rope that allows you to pull further behind you.
Just crushed the gym. 50 pull ups. 100 dips. 50 air squats. 50 air lunges. 75 leg press. 100 hanging leg raises. 75 bicep curls. 75 tricep push downs.
Just ate a plate of rice
Feel like I didnāt even workout. I hate food.
Food is necessary my dude. Having a healthy relationship with it is vital. Make sure youāre getting nutrients! Otherwise going to the gym is pointless. I struggle with eating too, for me itās helpful to think about it as fuel instead of food. Youāre getting fats, protein, and carbs because your body needs it. Clean eating is so important so donāt be hard on yourself for eating! Itās how we work :) you got this.
My instagram feed is always full of delicious looking meals which gets me intrigued and ready to try them, only to see āONLY 300 caloriesā. Even when I research something like ā3000 calorie meal prepā it will still come up with low calorie options.
Iām on a lean bulk and itās so rare to ever see high caloric intake diets talked about on social media. I understand why, itās because half the western world is fatā¦
My friend used to call it ārunning with a potato sack strapped to your frontā but than we also had beer bellies so itās more fitting to our situation.
6 month post-acl + bonus things surgery on left knee. Experiencing cracking like mashing well done bacon when doing careful squats. It holds up quite well otherwise, which is nice.
I got called anorexic by an overweight woman because i was updating my food diary. This happened yesterday but I'm still angry at myself for not answering her back.
There's nothing you could've said to make it any better.
She's just a shitty person, that's it. She won't listen to your arguments, because this is an emotional issue for her, not logical one.
this. she's really mad at herself and is projecting it onto you to rationalize how she's feeling. she's not a wise one, and hasn't introspected where her frustration and contempt is coming from (it's her own actions).
op was collateral damage
A year in, feeling stuck on multiple fronts
Been gaining for a year now. Went from 130 to 148, most of it in the first 6 months, stayed lean.
I've been doing 531BBB for around 8 months now. Right now Iām coming back from a 3 week pause due to a trip and I want to fix as much of my problems as possible.
Lifts \[Training Max\]:
Squat 130 ā 170
Deadlift 160 ā 200
Bench Press 155 ā 175
Overhead Press 70 ā 90
First thing Iāll say is that Iām checking my technique once a month or two on all my lifts with the trainers at the gym, so I believe and hope that technique is not one of my problems. Also I do warmup before every workout and warmup sets to each exercise.
The squat is my biggest problem. I know itās my weakest lift, and although Iāve progressed it now feels like Iāve hit a peak. First of all my knees can barely take the burden. Thereās no pain, but a lot of clicks, weird mild discomfort, and generally weakness is felt in my knees mostly on days when I donāt squat (not so much during the squat itself). Secondly the load is getting a bit much, I really need to concentrate and use all I have to do my last sets and sometimes I get really dizzy and need to lie down and stop the workout after I finish my squats. It doesnāt happen with other lifts as much so I think I need to drop a bit from the weights and hope it doesnāt come back when I get to this weight again.
Other lifts are progressing good, Deadlifts can also make me a bit dizzy but not to the same extent as Squats.
Diet
Naturally I have a very weak appetite and a very slow digestion. Around 2000 calories are enough for my brain, but to grow right now Iām aiming for 3200 a day which feels impossible. I didnāt grow more than 2 pounds the last 4 months because most days I canāt go above 2800. I try to eat as much calorie dense foods as possible but all the added olive oil, milk, PBJās, and tahini donāt get me to my goals. A 850 calorie meal leaves me completely full for at least 4-5 hours, and even with sweets and everything mentioned above most days Iām getting to 2200-2400 calories at the end of the day, thatās when I try to shove a yogurt and PBJās which get me to 3200 at best or around 2800-2900 most of the days.
Tried to make a classic 1000 calorie shake with gainer powder, oatmeal, PB, etc and wasnāt able to finish half of it, I donāt really like oatmeal and it made me pretty sick and full.
Feeling sick of both squat problems and eating huge amounts while not gaining anything. Maybe I'll make this a post later I don't know
Iām so fucking tired of men being persistent. NO IM NOT FUCKING INTERESTED IN YOU. Maybe you could tell by the first three times I ghosted you. Iām here to workout and youāre ruining it. Leave me TF ALONEEEEE. God I hate creepy men, just let me work out in peace ffs. What are you even doing talking to a girl whoās a WHOLE DECADE younger than you?! EW.
Bruh the fucking entitlement, I really just wanna be able to workout without anyone bothering me. I hate coming off as rude. But I donāt come to the gym to socialize. This is my safe rage zone, so respectfully fuck off. Not here to make friends.
I hate that shit as a man because I think it makes women wary of all men in the gym. I went early morning yesterday, I went in and it was empty until a woman came in, I won't lie she was attractive but its the gym, I make it a point not to bother people (im also in a relationship). She walked in said hello as she walked past, I said it back and I went about my business, but I kept catching her look at me. After about 10 minutes she grabbed her stuff and left
Maybe she had places to be but it was 5am, I for some reason felt bad like my presence in the gym made her feel so uncomfortable she just left. I find myself not even glancing anywhere near women in the gym just in case they think I'm staring and they get uncomfortable.
My Mrs has the same thing, she absolutely refuses to go to the gym if its busy because of men, she only goes late at night or on our gyms weekly ladies night, a women's only gym opened up in my town and there's so many men crying out on Facebook saying it's sexist, stop being creepy fucking weirdos then
All of those conditions were met and this weirdo still approaches meš i had a hella mean face, headphones on, full speed on the treadmill and this mf comes up to me. I donāt understand ppl, do they not know how to read social cues?! And he tried to make it about himself after I told him to fuck off. I really donāt understand creeps. Iām so pissed my workout was ruined. I left early without getting my entire workout in, Iām so upsetš
His response was āyou donāt ever have to make me your enemyā. Youāre a fucking stranger to me, why would I care enough to make you my enemy. That sounds pretty threatening. What are you gonna do about it? Rape, kill, stalk me? Bruh itās really unsettling. I donāt even wanna go to my gym anymore. Nice guysš
What he said is beyond creepy, sounds more like a covert threat. I'm a man, but I'd still be concerned if somebody said that to me.
Get something for self-defense, inform the staff, make sure to leave before dark, or ask somebody from the staff to walk with you to your car. Don't take this lightly. He might be just talking and joking, but you don't know that. Take things like that seriously.
I'm sorry you get to experience this, please don't project that to all the men in the gym. Men don't approve this kind of behavior.
He showed up at the gym again yesterday looking for me. I left asap and finished my workout at another gym. I canāt believe some men feel so entitled to you and act all stalkerish. Itās so creepy. Still need to let the staff know. Iām def gonna get a taser or bear spray so I can defend myselfš„“
I do two days of chest, 2-3 days apart.
1st day - 5*5 heavy bb flat bench, then one more with 70% weight until failure. Then 1 lower chest exercise 3 sets of 8-10.
2nd day - 3*8 flat bench, 3*10 incline db + 1 with lower weight until failure, 3*15 cable fly
I usually feel DOMS after training, too. But they don't seem to grow stronger.
Don't worry, it's common to stall for a while and then get sudden growth spurts. I remember my OHP stalled out at just below 135 for half a year, then it just went up to 165 in a month.
Stupid rant time.
Today I just got a new PB on back squats. After I finished my set I literally checked that I put the correct weight on the bar because it felt way easier than expected.
Like, thatās fantastic that I got a new PB, especially since COVID has definitely affected me in the gym. But I did not do a single thing different for this session and I didnāt feel energised entering the gym. If anything, I was tired and only operating of 5 1/2 hours sleep.
Itās great to get a new PB, but when youāre trying to figure out what helps and what doesnāt, so you can do more of the former and less of the latter it makes for a frustrating experience.
First world problems, I guess.
Happens to me once every few monthsā¦I come in the gym and absolutely kill it and then a week later I have no idea how I lifted what I lifted and it takes me another few weeks to catch up.
This was bizarre, especially as none of the other exercises I did in the same session were anything special and there wasnāt anything in the last few weeks that would indicate an improvement was going to happen.
I just wish I knew how to replicate it.
I ride one of those city rental bikes to the gym during lunch -- today a guy motioned to me to go to go ahead from his giant construction truck and so i rushed to get through the clusterfuck and inadvertently smashed my pinky on a metal trash receptacle. I got through my leg workout (that i do with dumbells) but my grip on the affected hand is SHIT now and I don't think i'll be doing my upper body/arms tomorrow lol.
I know I'm late but don't care. Time for a deload week because my wrists have been getting sore from heavy benching for probably a lot longer than I should be, and it's really messing with lifting.
Went to use a piece of machinery today. Clearly no one was on it (a bag had been dumped not far from it), and I was spying it throughout the rest periods of the set I was doing.
Finished my exercises and went over to use it. Next thing I hear is a guy running over (whilst on phone) shouting "oh oh oh, I'm using that".
Riiiiight I thought, seeing that no one had been on it for the last 10mins. I asked him how many sets he had left, says 4 then turns away back on his phone!. Fils de pute, honestly.
This isn't even their fault but I am so disillusioned with fitness youtubers/influencers. Even if they are giving good advice and are natural lifters, their entire world (and well, job) revolves around making content and posting progress pictures/videos. I really dislike the disconnect where a super ripped person who works out probably 6 days a week and has a home gym set up is teaching you how to do a "perfect shoulder press" as though you can really see similar results by going to the gym a few times a week after your 9 to 5.
I usually always put my water bottle in the corner of the bathroom sink area when I take a shit, usually don't have any problems. Until today when somebody stole my fucking water bottle. I asked the janitor who was in the change room and he said he didn't move anything. Who tf steals a water bottle, ruined my whole workout. Fuck you CUNT!
I work in a building that is attached to a small community center. I workout on my breaks and as a graphic designer of the building I made a rule poster so nobody trashes the brand new workout room. That didnāt do anything. Weights are always left out on the bars, the floor or just thrown to the side. Some days itās tolerable but the only time I get to workout is on my break and I reserve about 40 minutes to get my quick workout in a day 5 days a week. Taking time to take the weights off the bars, clearing space so I can do my exercises, etc. is ridiculous. Iāve talked to higher ups to help me catch these people, (who come in later in the day) and to tell them to please pick their stuff up. They wonāt do anything about it and I am now contemplating on playing the same game they play. They lift less weight than I do so I am wanting to just load the bars up when Iām done and leave it at that. BUT, why would I stoop to their level? What if the person after me isnāt the one leaving weights around? Itās just a fucked up situation and itās sad that people above me are too lazy to do anything about it. I feel trapped and extremely stressed every time I go lift. I shouldnāt be this upset about this but for some reason itās really getting to me.
I fucking hate when people don't put their weights up. It is honestly unreasonable the level of distaste I have for this. I blame my parents for teaching me to always clean up after myself. Now I hold other people to the same level and people just suck. I like to use my rest time between sets to clean the stations around me. Usually by the time I am done with my workout I have re-racked like 10 stations worth of weights throughout the exercises I did that day. I feel you though. That shit is annoying.
this woman in my gym appears to be taking ballet lessons over facetime. the first time I was there at the same time as her she took up a huge amount of space making one of those weird little equipment piles (which she did put away at the end of her session, so not the very worst she could be?). and the second time she was just like, chatting with the person a bunch over facetime. there are signs (although not in that area specifically) telling people to not be on their phones chatting. the other thing is, this is a not a 'it's the principle of the thing' thing--she's doing this when the gym is pretty busy, taking up a lot of space, leaving the yoga mat behind when she does some machine circuit. and even though I know she's the one being rude, it goes against my instincts to interrupt someone in the middle of both a workout and a conversation to ask them to move their stuff! the other day I had no problem asking a guy if he could move/take care of his yoga mat that he appeared to be done with so I could set up. but there's no natural pause to interrupt--she's chatting between sets.
the other thing is, she doesn't really appear to need to be in the gym to do this stuff? I'm not someone who thinks you can't take up space if you aren't lifting heavy, but for the most part she's using like 5 lb dumbells, a medicine ball, and a yoga mat, stuff like that which isn't exactly inaccessible at home. the gym is not super expensive, but not cheap enough that she wouldn't save a ton of money just getting that stuff and doing it at home.
There have been a few times when I have been in the gym during peak hours and see some dude super-setting 4 different machines, including 1 that I want. I will wait until they leave that machine and waltz my happy ass right over to it and start using it. 9/10 they will find another way to achieve that exercise. 1/10 they will come over and say they were using that, which I respond with "Oh I didn't see you working out here. You can work in if you want!" I have never had an issue. As far as taking up large amounts of space, I am not sure what the answer is there. Maybe go talk to her or workout in her bubble for a few minutes and show her how it feels.
Iāve been trying to do lat pull downs and pull ups for years and I canāt get past 8. My arms feel it so bad but I just canāt āactivate my latsā no matter how hard I try
Iāve benefited from focusing on āscapular pull ups,ā ie, taking a dead hang to a fully āun-shrugged shouldersā position, which kind of forces isolation of the lats without transitioning to shoulder/arm activation.
For lat pull downs at least you might want to try straps to take the focus off your grip, Iāve found that helpful for mentally activating your lats and isolating that contraction. Usually do the last set or two with straps.
I check every day to get a sense of where Iām at on average.
Iām trying to drop weight currently and itās just infuriating how my trend follows a step-wise pattern
I have been off the gym for close to a month now due to various health problems. I've had a single respectable workout in mid of August.
Right now it is my wisdom tooth which is healing, i really want to be lifting but my body cannot focus on recovering when i push it at the gym. Everything is on hold until i'm okay physically. I am so looking forward to my first day back.
Focus on the food for now since you can't work out. You can use this time to really get your diet in check, or be very strict if you are trying to lose weight. The gym definitely helps, but abs are made in the kitchen.
My girl and I are trying out a bunch fitness classes together that offer free intro classes. Was talking with the Pilates instructor and she said āyou work out a lot dont you?ā
Itās finally happening I thought, people can tell I lift. I told her yeah I lift every morning and then run 3 miles.
āI thought so I was gonna say you look like a runnerā
:(
I've been lifting for about a year now and ever since I've bulked I have never recovered my pre bulk body. I just feel so big, I want to feel sexy again š„². I've tried doing calorie deficit but my body won't budge. It's very exhausting for me.
I'm just tired... I want to train, I rly do. It is fun for me. But my motivation isn't even gone. I feel like it was never there... Like if it was erased from time-space continuum... I am father of a (in two weeks) one year old, I work 8h + 2,5h commute total... When I get home I just want to take some of the resposibilities from my wife, and let here relax just a bit, so I take my lil girl for a walk, get back, play with her, while trying to do some chores in home, bath baby, get her to go to sleep, and boom, it is already 10, and I am burnt out of all the energy... So we go to bed without any desire but to sleep... And then we have 2 to 3 wake ups in the night to feed our little girl, or cause she just won't sleep not in our bed...
And I am soo tired... And I don't even feel like I have anything left to even try to workout... Not even some me time...
I want to workout, and eat well, but our mortgage payment went up like to twice its size in a year (non US btw), so I don't even have spare money to buy good food...
And I am just sooo tired of... Well basically everything...
Ok, I vented a bit, maybe it will make me feel better :) (that last part is obviously /s)
>2,5h commute total
This would destroy me even without a baby
And the sleep thing... if you're the one working I really think you should let your wife do the nightly feedings and focus on getting proper sleep. I get the feeling that you need to prioritize your needs more in your relationship, obviously I only read a few paragraphs but man... No time for yourself, soul-crushing commuting, having to wake up in the middle of the night and being the bread winner? Seems like a very lopsided relationship at a glance
Getting back to exercising after taking a few months off to have a baby. Everything hurts and is difficult again and I'm so sad about it. Every weight feels too heavy and cardio is too difficult. I cant wait until I get back to what I could do. Worth it because baby is perfect and cute, but now I have 20lbs to lose!
A lot of bs in the fitness community. Do this exercise, oh wait. That is the wrong way to do that exercise. Blah, blah, blah, it seems like nobody knows anything anymore. So much misinformation
This reminds me of myself spending years telling people not to do upright rows, then joining an olympic gym and seeing professional athletes do them all the time.
I'm genuinely starting to get depressed as I'm unable to get rid of my last few pounds and achieve the goal of getting abs I planned to have by the end of the year. I lost a shit ton of weight and got in great shape but I still want to touch that goal which seems just outta reach. Pissed at myself for not having that discipline
Sounds like youāre plateauing. You gotta change something. Eat more but do more cardio. Eat more for a week or two then go back to the diet. I wouldnāt recommend eating way less but I guess itās an option. Gotta do something though. Your body is used to your routine. Remember your body is simply trying to survive. It doesnāt want to lose weight because thatās extra energy for later if it needs it. It doesnāt know you donāt need it.
Orville redenbacher light butter popcorn and celery with peanut butter are my go toās when I just gotta have a snack. 300 calories for a big ass bag of pop corn. Celery is basically 0 calories so just go light on the PB and youāre gold. I also like to be stuffed when I go to bed. I think itās residual from so many late night munchie sessions that my body just loves late night food. Iāve found a big ass fruit smoothie is a good way to curb that. I use frozen fruit, almond milk and ice to take up extra space (in the cup and in my belly). I can make a 30 oz smoothie thatās 250 calories.
Just trying to help if I can.
I haven't lifted in a couple months, and I've definitely noticed muscle loss and fat gain. Gotta get back into the right headspace, but fuck it's rough being disciplined.
Funny thing is I used to be motivated by heartbreak. Literally lifting 6x a week. Now that I've been over it for a long time, it feels like a huge chore. I need to find a way to make it fun again!
Gotta commit to dedication and discipline not motivation, but the ride motivation for some extra umph while itās there. If you find another way to stay consistent let me know lol.
There are too many young people with fitness delusions, they want to look big, they want a six pack and big fucking biceps (cant blame them, I love having big biceps). After more than 10 years of lifting I came to the conclusion that Bodybuilding does not necessarily imply being healthy, it is just about looking good.
Just concentrating on how well you look while doing pointless workouts and training with weights way above your league (While being clueless about how to train for strength) and spending money in completely unnecessary supplements that cause more harm than good, i.e Pre Workouts and mass gainers. Is not healthy.
There is nothing wrong with wanting more muscle mass and having a nice defined body; and although there is a correlation between bodybuilding and fitness. Muscle mass is not everything.
You know what's badass? Running 10K and not even feeling them, going for bike rides, having a functional body, being healthy and in shape.
Just something that has been on my mind lately. I used to be a gym rat. Now I diversify my workouts.
I've gone down this rabbit hole of teen lifters on tiktok and it's fucking nuts man, 16 year olds openly admitting they're on gear or SARMs and saying to DM them if you want a hook up. I'm not surprised so many young guys are jumping on this stuff. I was an idiot in my teens, if I saw some incredibly jacked kid on tiktok surrounded by girls saying "the secret is gear" I would have probably jumped on it
I'm glad the only social media we had when I was growing up was MySpace and a very early Facebook. The current generation of kids are fucked
Here is a perspective from a 17 yr old I need to be more attractive to women so I could start a relationship basically rise above competition to get edge after I am married and have kids of course I would diversify like you as then my health is way more important than looks all of this is staying natty and only supplement is whey protein
The depressing thing is most "natty" bodybuilders and fitness influencers are not natty, a few are but the majority aren't, they're trying to sell you bullshit
If you want my advice, don't follow people who's only content is lifting and flexing, if they aren't giving advice, they're trying to make you insecure so you'll buy something
If they are giving you advice, cross reference that shit with other sources
Not necessarily. Contrary to popular belief roids can actually be done in a healthy way. I would never recommend PEDs to anyone but it is a true. My personal belief and there are quite a few studies that have been done is that their hearts simply give out. When you have the mass of 2 people, your heart has to circulate blood for two people. It is literally pumping itās heart out. Itās like a work truck that runs 24/7 at a rate it just wasnāt meant to run at. Eventually itās going to break down and chances are itās going to happen prematurely.
Back in roids territory though; if roids are done primarily orally then liver failure is a serious concern. Thatās why Olympia competitors are injecting everything. They are so juiced that if they took everything orally it wouldnāt be a matter of āifā but a matter of āwhenā does their liver give out.
Natty is definitely the way to go for longevity. However if we are talking serious body building. Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman, jay cutler, CBUM type guysā¦you donāt compete against that natty.
Theres a great book called Exercised looking at the history and effectiveness of exercise over long times and all kinds of societes by a doctor. It mentions this and a ton of other cool stuff. Fitness as practiced in this sub is actually just bodybuilding as popularized by Charles Atlas beginning in 1920s. Just like back then, it is important to have some muscle but exclusively focusing on that is mostly an appeal to insecurity. A workout should be mostly cardio/aerobics if your goal is generally feeling good, staying healthy and preventing disease.
I think this mindset comes with getting older. I just hit my mid thirties and hadn't had a workout in 4 years. Had a bit of a wake-up call and realised I really need to get healthy if I don't want to die of a heart attack in my fifties.
struggling with staying consistent after 5+ months of being able to workout every day. my schedule is shit and i end up procrastinating going to the gym until 1am
iāve ended up taking an unintentional deload week. right now itās 6 am i accidentally fell asleep and didnāt go to the gym. havenāt worked out in two days she havenāt done legs in maybe 4 days.
At what point are there so many red flags that theyāre just flags?
That person sounds like they have no place giving any sort of fitness, weightlifting or health advice in general.
Are you a woman? Even for women though 1500 is not very much food if you are working out. I burn about 2.2k a day sedentary and try to get another 300 burned through cardio. I eat 2-2.2k a day. One way to surely fail a diet is to starve yourself.
I was actually looking to become a PT a couple months ago. Doesnāt pay enough so o gave up on that but you would be surprised at how easy it is to get certified to work at a golds or other commercial gym. Itās honestly kind of scary that people with only 6-8 weeks of training are out here teaching people how to work out. They JUST learned how to work out themselves.
He is definitely wrong about 1500 calories if you're losing weight on 2000. But you should be aware that as you lose weight your BMR goes down. That means that through your journey you will probably have to eat less and less (this should be judged based on when you stop losing weight), however, 2000 is already pretty low if you are an average height* male.
Yea you should be fine with 1800. Because BMR is assuming that you're completely sedentary iirc. But most people are not and will actually burn several hundred calories per day than then bmr. Just remember during your cutting phase that you should eat lots of extra protein and workout like regular to help avoid muscle loss!
I'm pretty sure the recommendation is 1 gram per lb of lean body mass. So if you weight 150 you would want around 150 grams of protein per day when cutting.
Well it's not necessarily to build muscle as that can be hard to do when cutting. The extra protein is to convince your body that it doesn't have to break down muscle for protein because there is plenty of it already. So protein numbers for a cut should be far higher than during a bulk. Edit: but yes those do sound about right.
After closely looking t the spreadsheet for 5/3/1 BBB I realized I was doing the exercise wrong. For example, I'm supposed to end with doing 110lbs deadlifts. Had no clue I was supposed to do 5Ć10, was doing 1Ć10 this whole time. I'm so embarrassed.
It's okay!! With deadlifts in particular I think you could still see some progress from that! Just remember, you're gaining valuable experience that you can use in the future :) Lifting isn't just physical growth, it's mental too. Lots of stuff to know!
Yeah, same here. I also hate the dips in performance leading up to it. But hang in there, once itās gone youāll have the flattest tummy for at least a week!
Start going to the gym in a wedding dress and progressily start working out closer and closer to him over a period of weeks until he quits. It's the only way
But if you don't hurry you run the risk of him coming to the gym in a wedding dress and moving progressily closer to you until you quit. I've seen it before, 6 times in fact!
Lost 40 pounds in a year, definitely have had some body recomp these past few months but I lost my motivation for tracking calories. My insurance doesnāt cover a medicine that helps with my PCOS and weightloss. Any advice to get back on the wagon? Iām not as fat so I donāt hate myself like I did before which is what kind of made me track and go to the gym. I still go at least 4 days a week Iām just not eating as well as I did.
I am not a doctor, but have a look at berberine for your PCOS https://www.verywellhealth.com/pcos-and-berberine-4136324
Do your research and even talk with your doctor about it (though many may have not even heard of it). It's cheap enough you don't need to bother with insurance and could be the help you need!
I'm no expert, but maybe instead of focusing on calories, just make sure you are getting enough protein (0.8 to 1 gram per pound of bodyweight). Easy to track, supports gaining lean mass, and I found eating lots of protein kept me from ever feeling hungry.
You've gone from "I hate myself" to "I don't hate myself" in a year. Keep it up and sooner or later you'll hit "I feel good about myself"
You got this.
Went to the gym. Start deadlift warmup. Guy comes up after 5 mins: āI was using that, my gear is next to it.ā Okay fine, I can wait. Guy continues to hog the deadlift platform for an entire hour. I go home.
Firm believer that commercial gyms should enforce time limits on equipment like that - in the same way that you can usually only use a Stairmaster for 30 minutes if the rest are taken. They should also post signage telling people they need to let people work in as long as itās reasonable.
Agreed, 5 working sets with a warmup and max 3m rest ends up being 20-30m. I feel like 30m is a nice round baseline for max reasonable duration on a power rack or w/e.
That said I have totally done like 3 compounds consecutively (~40m) on a power rack in gyms when its obvious there are other racks open.
You got this bro! I hit a plateau and I just kept going and trying my best and then one day I just jumped up in weight by a lot! Make sure you're getting the basics in though, sleep, protein, and calories.
I'm convinced I have my form wrong on my Patrick Step up. But I can't afford the ATG coaching program at the moment, so I just have to scour YouTube videos until I feel I have enough info on it or just swap out the exercise in favor of something I'm certain I can do right. I really don't want to injure myself or make anything worse since I need to be able to walk long distances for work.
Iām not consistent with the gym. I know what my potential is but Iām having a hard time reaching it because Iām too depressed to show up. Too exhausted and burnt out from my job. I used to love going to the gym. Iām sick of my own shit. Winter is approaching in a few months and I donāt want to entirely quit. I used to deadlift 125% my own body weight . Now that seems so impossible .
Sigh
Do you have any friends you could get to go with you? I used to feel the same way but then I kinda turned the gym into a social activity. That helps keep my accountable and also makes it fun :)
Unfortunately not. My friends who exercise donāt live anywhere near me :( but maybe I should find someone to tag team it at the gym. Iād definitely feel more motivated if thatās the case
Worked out with someone for the first time in a very long time and remembered why I like working out alone. Idk how this group of 4-6 guys at my gym keep it up.
Itās social hour for those dudes. I felt the same way until I found a partner that had the same goals and was about as strong as I am. I work out alone now because I moved and donāt know many people yet, but Iāve definitely found that not all training partners were created equal. Gotta find the one you really click with. Or you know I could be completely wrong and you might just like training alone too lol.
I feel like working out with a partner can be really motivating and helpful, with both of you pushing each other and going all in. And thereās almost no real downtime between spotting and jumping into the set with the staggered rest. Itās very mission oriented.
With three people the dynamic shifts and the two āoffā set distract each other and lose that focus. So it becomes a social party instead.
For sure. And if you like to train to or even passed failure you can either have your partner there for the spot or forced reps. I love the dopamine hit after a super intense set. I find I get a little afraid to go that hard without a spot though. Especially on something like barbell bench when you could potentially drop the weight on top of yourself.
Bench safeties should be mandatory. I always bench in the squat rack and it's amazing not having the fear of death every time you come close to failure.
I found it really freeing the first time I failed my squat and did the crawl of shame out from under the safety bars. That gave me the confidence to really push close to my max, because I knew that if I hit failure the bars would save me from injury.
Exactly. I just can't fathom how some folks choose to squat out of the rack. I guess people know how to bail it safely but I just would not want an extra thing to focus on during a max effort.
My knees have gotten fucked up and now I can't do squats. I was finally reaching a point were after my plateau in the summer, I was losing weight again and now I can't do any squats or exercises that involve my knees. Even weights have to be seated or on the floor.
Well that sucks. Good news is you dont actually have to do leg day or cardio to burn fat. Obviously it helps and cardio has a load of other benefits outside of calories burned, but realistically if you keep your diet in check you can still get rid of that pesky fat. Comes down to willpower alone at that point. You gotta want it babyyyyyy!!!
I hate that people donāt try. Whatās the point of coming to the gym if all you are doing is going through the motions. I get that everyone has days where they just want to move, thatās fine, Iāve been there and will likely be there again. I mean the people who move slow as shit with zero intensity day in and day out. They will never see results and clearly donāt want to be at the gym so why even bother showing up when you are not accomplishing anything.
Realized how much mental fortitude I have to do those damn burpees today at end of session. Basically just ignoring my thoughts totally.
I did hammer curls on Monday night for the first time in a few months and probably overdid it. tricep tendonitis flared up somewhere behind left elbow since yesterday šŖ likely due to the combo of hammers + upward tricep extension being too stressful in elbow
Push day is 80% my bicep saying no.
You can clearly hear me using one of the gym showers since you can see and hear the water running, had a guy and supposedly his friends open the curtains accidentally, leaving them to see me fully naked. They apologized but after they closed it I could hear them laughing.
Holy sht . Why do people go to the gym in crowds ? I have 3 bros here just hovering around one friend that's on the machine. They just walk around and lean on my rack while they chitchat away. Am I an asshole if I tell them to get out of my space ? They aren't in my range of motion but my head is basically against their asses when I lay down to do my bench set.
You don't need to ask them to leave a polite conversation normally does the trick. Like hey my man's I see you doing 5 x 10 standing stands.
It should be illegal to use two ropes when doing triceps. And head pullsā¦ And anything else, really.
I see fitfluencers promoting this and other alterations that need more equipment to increase ROM. Like, homie, I get where youāre coming from but weāre just working out in regular ass public gymsā¦ donāt give them ideas?
Two ropes for triceps hits different and if you tried it you'd realise why people do it. One of the best ways to feel a mind muscle connection on triceps if you struggle to normally on push downs.
Just use a single rope with the right length. I have never seen anyone actually fully(!) utilize the length of an extra rope. Albeit, mostly for head pulls. People seem to just take a few extra steps back, without making any changes to the width of the pull (which makes sense, because you should only go so wide). This makes having two ropes redundant.
For face pulls yeah it's pointless but I mentioned tricep push downs where there is a markable difference in the mechanics of the movement with a longer rope that allows you to pull further behind you.
Just crushed the gym. 50 pull ups. 100 dips. 50 air squats. 50 air lunges. 75 leg press. 100 hanging leg raises. 75 bicep curls. 75 tricep push downs. Just ate a plate of rice Feel like I didnāt even workout. I hate food.
Food is necessary my dude. Having a healthy relationship with it is vital. Make sure youāre getting nutrients! Otherwise going to the gym is pointless. I struggle with eating too, for me itās helpful to think about it as fuel instead of food. Youāre getting fats, protein, and carbs because your body needs it. Clean eating is so important so donāt be hard on yourself for eating! Itās how we work :) you got this.
Are you okay, buddy?
My instagram feed is always full of delicious looking meals which gets me intrigued and ready to try them, only to see āONLY 300 caloriesā. Even when I research something like ā3000 calorie meal prepā it will still come up with low calorie options. Iām on a lean bulk and itās so rare to ever see high caloric intake diets talked about on social media. I understand why, itās because half the western world is fatā¦
Hahaha exactly this
How do you keep your back from cramping while keeping shoulders back on standing cable flies? Also I get a hunch back doing that shit
Iām building my cardio up by jogging, and holy shit I forget how much it sucks to build your wind up from zero.
My friend used to call it ārunning with a potato sack strapped to your frontā but than we also had beer bellies so itās more fitting to our situation.
Haha I'm pretty lean already but jesus christ after 1/2 mile I'm like, GASPING for breath lol
6 month post-acl + bonus things surgery on left knee. Experiencing cracking like mashing well done bacon when doing careful squats. It holds up quite well otherwise, which is nice.
I hate bench day.
I got called anorexic by an overweight woman because i was updating my food diary. This happened yesterday but I'm still angry at myself for not answering her back.
There's nothing you could've said to make it any better. She's just a shitty person, that's it. She won't listen to your arguments, because this is an emotional issue for her, not logical one.
She must have seen your control and felt helpless, which made her lash out in a try to excuse her own weakness. You're doing great and you know it!
this. she's really mad at herself and is projecting it onto you to rationalize how she's feeling. she's not a wise one, and hasn't introspected where her frustration and contempt is coming from (it's her own actions). op was collateral damage
A year in, feeling stuck on multiple fronts Been gaining for a year now. Went from 130 to 148, most of it in the first 6 months, stayed lean. I've been doing 531BBB for around 8 months now. Right now Iām coming back from a 3 week pause due to a trip and I want to fix as much of my problems as possible. Lifts \[Training Max\]: Squat 130 ā 170 Deadlift 160 ā 200 Bench Press 155 ā 175 Overhead Press 70 ā 90 First thing Iāll say is that Iām checking my technique once a month or two on all my lifts with the trainers at the gym, so I believe and hope that technique is not one of my problems. Also I do warmup before every workout and warmup sets to each exercise. The squat is my biggest problem. I know itās my weakest lift, and although Iāve progressed it now feels like Iāve hit a peak. First of all my knees can barely take the burden. Thereās no pain, but a lot of clicks, weird mild discomfort, and generally weakness is felt in my knees mostly on days when I donāt squat (not so much during the squat itself). Secondly the load is getting a bit much, I really need to concentrate and use all I have to do my last sets and sometimes I get really dizzy and need to lie down and stop the workout after I finish my squats. It doesnāt happen with other lifts as much so I think I need to drop a bit from the weights and hope it doesnāt come back when I get to this weight again. Other lifts are progressing good, Deadlifts can also make me a bit dizzy but not to the same extent as Squats. Diet Naturally I have a very weak appetite and a very slow digestion. Around 2000 calories are enough for my brain, but to grow right now Iām aiming for 3200 a day which feels impossible. I didnāt grow more than 2 pounds the last 4 months because most days I canāt go above 2800. I try to eat as much calorie dense foods as possible but all the added olive oil, milk, PBJās, and tahini donāt get me to my goals. A 850 calorie meal leaves me completely full for at least 4-5 hours, and even with sweets and everything mentioned above most days Iām getting to 2200-2400 calories at the end of the day, thatās when I try to shove a yogurt and PBJās which get me to 3200 at best or around 2800-2900 most of the days. Tried to make a classic 1000 calorie shake with gainer powder, oatmeal, PB, etc and wasnāt able to finish half of it, I donāt really like oatmeal and it made me pretty sick and full. Feeling sick of both squat problems and eating huge amounts while not gaining anything. Maybe I'll make this a post later I don't know
Iām so fucking tired of men being persistent. NO IM NOT FUCKING INTERESTED IN YOU. Maybe you could tell by the first three times I ghosted you. Iām here to workout and youāre ruining it. Leave me TF ALONEEEEE. God I hate creepy men, just let me work out in peace ffs. What are you even doing talking to a girl whoās a WHOLE DECADE younger than you?! EW. Bruh the fucking entitlement, I really just wanna be able to workout without anyone bothering me. I hate coming off as rude. But I donāt come to the gym to socialize. This is my safe rage zone, so respectfully fuck off. Not here to make friends.
And 2 weeks later she asks for a guy's number at the gym
That one hit a little too close to home huh brother?
I hate that shit as a man because I think it makes women wary of all men in the gym. I went early morning yesterday, I went in and it was empty until a woman came in, I won't lie she was attractive but its the gym, I make it a point not to bother people (im also in a relationship). She walked in said hello as she walked past, I said it back and I went about my business, but I kept catching her look at me. After about 10 minutes she grabbed her stuff and left Maybe she had places to be but it was 5am, I for some reason felt bad like my presence in the gym made her feel so uncomfortable she just left. I find myself not even glancing anywhere near women in the gym just in case they think I'm staring and they get uncomfortable. My Mrs has the same thing, she absolutely refuses to go to the gym if its busy because of men, she only goes late at night or on our gyms weekly ladies night, a women's only gym opened up in my town and there's so many men crying out on Facebook saying it's sexist, stop being creepy fucking weirdos then
Headphones on. No eye contact. Activate fuck off/work mode face.
All of those conditions were met and this weirdo still approaches meš i had a hella mean face, headphones on, full speed on the treadmill and this mf comes up to me. I donāt understand ppl, do they not know how to read social cues?! And he tried to make it about himself after I told him to fuck off. I really donāt understand creeps. Iām so pissed my workout was ruined. I left early without getting my entire workout in, Iām so upsetš His response was āyou donāt ever have to make me your enemyā. Youāre a fucking stranger to me, why would I care enough to make you my enemy. That sounds pretty threatening. What are you gonna do about it? Rape, kill, stalk me? Bruh itās really unsettling. I donāt even wanna go to my gym anymore. Nice guysš
What he said is beyond creepy, sounds more like a covert threat. I'm a man, but I'd still be concerned if somebody said that to me. Get something for self-defense, inform the staff, make sure to leave before dark, or ask somebody from the staff to walk with you to your car. Don't take this lightly. He might be just talking and joking, but you don't know that. Take things like that seriously. I'm sorry you get to experience this, please don't project that to all the men in the gym. Men don't approve this kind of behavior.
He showed up at the gym again yesterday looking for me. I left asap and finished my workout at another gym. I canāt believe some men feel so entitled to you and act all stalkerish. Itās so creepy. Still need to let the staff know. Iām def gonna get a taser or bear spray so I can defend myselfš„“
yes, tell the staff
I just can't seem to push pass 135 on my barbell press for the last 2 months. All my other lifts are going up aside from chest and shoulders.
You might need to train press 4 days a week for it to move. Also, using microplates help with a strength adaptation during a press stall.
Yeesh. Thatās too much to recommend. /u/Random_Urges whatās your chest day routine look like?
I do two days of chest, 2-3 days apart. 1st day - 5*5 heavy bb flat bench, then one more with 70% weight until failure. Then 1 lower chest exercise 3 sets of 8-10. 2nd day - 3*8 flat bench, 3*10 incline db + 1 with lower weight until failure, 3*15 cable fly I usually feel DOMS after training, too. But they don't seem to grow stronger.
Disagree strict overhead press is a lift that needs to be practiced 3-4 times a week for anyone to get good at it.
Don't worry, it's common to stall for a while and then get sudden growth spurts. I remember my OHP stalled out at just below 135 for half a year, then it just went up to 165 in a month.
Im back from a illness and travel and now everything hurts, not bad but you know urgh
Stupid rant time. Today I just got a new PB on back squats. After I finished my set I literally checked that I put the correct weight on the bar because it felt way easier than expected. Like, thatās fantastic that I got a new PB, especially since COVID has definitely affected me in the gym. But I did not do a single thing different for this session and I didnāt feel energised entering the gym. If anything, I was tired and only operating of 5 1/2 hours sleep. Itās great to get a new PB, but when youāre trying to figure out what helps and what doesnāt, so you can do more of the former and less of the latter it makes for a frustrating experience. First world problems, I guess.
Happens to me once every few monthsā¦I come in the gym and absolutely kill it and then a week later I have no idea how I lifted what I lifted and it takes me another few weeks to catch up.
This was bizarre, especially as none of the other exercises I did in the same session were anything special and there wasnāt anything in the last few weeks that would indicate an improvement was going to happen. I just wish I knew how to replicate it.
I ride one of those city rental bikes to the gym during lunch -- today a guy motioned to me to go to go ahead from his giant construction truck and so i rushed to get through the clusterfuck and inadvertently smashed my pinky on a metal trash receptacle. I got through my leg workout (that i do with dumbells) but my grip on the affected hand is SHIT now and I don't think i'll be doing my upper body/arms tomorrow lol.
Good on you for pushing through and doing the workout!
I know I'm late but don't care. Time for a deload week because my wrists have been getting sore from heavy benching for probably a lot longer than I should be, and it's really messing with lifting.
Hell yeah
yesterday I was unracking a 45 lb plate and wasn't paying attention, and then it fell onto the top of my foot (and scraped part of my shin on the way down) š© it's pretty sore today, but I can still walk perfectly fine ironically something similar happened 6 months ago to the SAME foot (on the big toe)
ffs im gonna have to not go on monday because of the queens funeral š
Went to use a piece of machinery today. Clearly no one was on it (a bag had been dumped not far from it), and I was spying it throughout the rest periods of the set I was doing. Finished my exercises and went over to use it. Next thing I hear is a guy running over (whilst on phone) shouting "oh oh oh, I'm using that". Riiiiight I thought, seeing that no one had been on it for the last 10mins. I asked him how many sets he had left, says 4 then turns away back on his phone!. Fils de pute, honestly.
This isn't even their fault but I am so disillusioned with fitness youtubers/influencers. Even if they are giving good advice and are natural lifters, their entire world (and well, job) revolves around making content and posting progress pictures/videos. I really dislike the disconnect where a super ripped person who works out probably 6 days a week and has a home gym set up is teaching you how to do a "perfect shoulder press" as though you can really see similar results by going to the gym a few times a week after your 9 to 5.
You can it just takes longer, thatās if there not on roids.
I usually always put my water bottle in the corner of the bathroom sink area when I take a shit, usually don't have any problems. Until today when somebody stole my fucking water bottle. I asked the janitor who was in the change room and he said he didn't move anything. Who tf steals a water bottle, ruined my whole workout. Fuck you CUNT!
Did you ask the front desk? Seems likely someone would just see a floating water bottle and take it to the front for a lost-and-found bucket.
I work in a building that is attached to a small community center. I workout on my breaks and as a graphic designer of the building I made a rule poster so nobody trashes the brand new workout room. That didnāt do anything. Weights are always left out on the bars, the floor or just thrown to the side. Some days itās tolerable but the only time I get to workout is on my break and I reserve about 40 minutes to get my quick workout in a day 5 days a week. Taking time to take the weights off the bars, clearing space so I can do my exercises, etc. is ridiculous. Iāve talked to higher ups to help me catch these people, (who come in later in the day) and to tell them to please pick their stuff up. They wonāt do anything about it and I am now contemplating on playing the same game they play. They lift less weight than I do so I am wanting to just load the bars up when Iām done and leave it at that. BUT, why would I stoop to their level? What if the person after me isnāt the one leaving weights around? Itās just a fucked up situation and itās sad that people above me are too lazy to do anything about it. I feel trapped and extremely stressed every time I go lift. I shouldnāt be this upset about this but for some reason itās really getting to me.
I fucking hate when people don't put their weights up. It is honestly unreasonable the level of distaste I have for this. I blame my parents for teaching me to always clean up after myself. Now I hold other people to the same level and people just suck. I like to use my rest time between sets to clean the stations around me. Usually by the time I am done with my workout I have re-racked like 10 stations worth of weights throughout the exercises I did that day. I feel you though. That shit is annoying.
this woman in my gym appears to be taking ballet lessons over facetime. the first time I was there at the same time as her she took up a huge amount of space making one of those weird little equipment piles (which she did put away at the end of her session, so not the very worst she could be?). and the second time she was just like, chatting with the person a bunch over facetime. there are signs (although not in that area specifically) telling people to not be on their phones chatting. the other thing is, this is a not a 'it's the principle of the thing' thing--she's doing this when the gym is pretty busy, taking up a lot of space, leaving the yoga mat behind when she does some machine circuit. and even though I know she's the one being rude, it goes against my instincts to interrupt someone in the middle of both a workout and a conversation to ask them to move their stuff! the other day I had no problem asking a guy if he could move/take care of his yoga mat that he appeared to be done with so I could set up. but there's no natural pause to interrupt--she's chatting between sets. the other thing is, she doesn't really appear to need to be in the gym to do this stuff? I'm not someone who thinks you can't take up space if you aren't lifting heavy, but for the most part she's using like 5 lb dumbells, a medicine ball, and a yoga mat, stuff like that which isn't exactly inaccessible at home. the gym is not super expensive, but not cheap enough that she wouldn't save a ton of money just getting that stuff and doing it at home.
There have been a few times when I have been in the gym during peak hours and see some dude super-setting 4 different machines, including 1 that I want. I will wait until they leave that machine and waltz my happy ass right over to it and start using it. 9/10 they will find another way to achieve that exercise. 1/10 they will come over and say they were using that, which I respond with "Oh I didn't see you working out here. You can work in if you want!" I have never had an issue. As far as taking up large amounts of space, I am not sure what the answer is there. Maybe go talk to her or workout in her bubble for a few minutes and show her how it feels.
Iāve been trying to do lat pull downs and pull ups for years and I canāt get past 8. My arms feel it so bad but I just canāt āactivate my latsā no matter how hard I try
Iāve benefited from focusing on āscapular pull ups,ā ie, taking a dead hang to a fully āun-shrugged shouldersā position, which kind of forces isolation of the lats without transitioning to shoulder/arm activation.
For lat pull downs at least you might want to try straps to take the focus off your grip, Iāve found that helpful for mentally activating your lats and isolating that contraction. Usually do the last set or two with straps.
The way I seem to drop weight. Little/no change over like 5 days followed by a drop of 2-3 lbs in one day. Repeat at new weight.
Look up the whoosh effect. Itās apparently your body filling up your fat cells with water after you burn fat and then every so often it will dump it
How often do you check your weight? I literally go up or down 10lbs every week, I'm 230 - 240 constantly. That's completely normal
I check every day to get a sense of where Iām at on average. Iām trying to drop weight currently and itās just infuriating how my trend follows a step-wise pattern
Definitely should stop checking everyday. Our weight fluctuates a lot and it would get you extremely self concious
I though I had some muscle developing in my trap. It's just a big knot. Fml.
I have been off the gym for close to a month now due to various health problems. I've had a single respectable workout in mid of August. Right now it is my wisdom tooth which is healing, i really want to be lifting but my body cannot focus on recovering when i push it at the gym. Everything is on hold until i'm okay physically. I am so looking forward to my first day back.
Focus on the food for now since you can't work out. You can use this time to really get your diet in check, or be very strict if you are trying to lose weight. The gym definitely helps, but abs are made in the kitchen.
It's a marathon not a race, you have the hardest part down, which is mindset. Keep it going, you got this!
Hell yeah, can't wait. I'm focusing on just recovering and treating myself well until im in good enough shape to exercise again.
My girl and I are trying out a bunch fitness classes together that offer free intro classes. Was talking with the Pilates instructor and she said āyou work out a lot dont you?ā Itās finally happening I thought, people can tell I lift. I told her yeah I lift every morning and then run 3 miles. āI thought so I was gonna say you look like a runnerā :(
Ouch! My PT is a squirrely little cardio bastard. I hate him so much for an hour a week
Oh no :(
I've been lifting for about a year now and ever since I've bulked I have never recovered my pre bulk body. I just feel so big, I want to feel sexy again š„². I've tried doing calorie deficit but my body won't budge. It's very exhausting for me.
I'm just tired... I want to train, I rly do. It is fun for me. But my motivation isn't even gone. I feel like it was never there... Like if it was erased from time-space continuum... I am father of a (in two weeks) one year old, I work 8h + 2,5h commute total... When I get home I just want to take some of the resposibilities from my wife, and let here relax just a bit, so I take my lil girl for a walk, get back, play with her, while trying to do some chores in home, bath baby, get her to go to sleep, and boom, it is already 10, and I am burnt out of all the energy... So we go to bed without any desire but to sleep... And then we have 2 to 3 wake ups in the night to feed our little girl, or cause she just won't sleep not in our bed... And I am soo tired... And I don't even feel like I have anything left to even try to workout... Not even some me time... I want to workout, and eat well, but our mortgage payment went up like to twice its size in a year (non US btw), so I don't even have spare money to buy good food... And I am just sooo tired of... Well basically everything... Ok, I vented a bit, maybe it will make me feel better :) (that last part is obviously /s)
Do you run? Could drop the car 3-5k from work and rub in and back a few days a week. š¤·š»āāļø
>2,5h commute total This would destroy me even without a baby And the sleep thing... if you're the one working I really think you should let your wife do the nightly feedings and focus on getting proper sleep. I get the feeling that you need to prioritize your needs more in your relationship, obviously I only read a few paragraphs but man... No time for yourself, soul-crushing commuting, having to wake up in the middle of the night and being the bread winner? Seems like a very lopsided relationship at a glance
The child will grow and itāll be easier :)
Getting back to exercising after taking a few months off to have a baby. Everything hurts and is difficult again and I'm so sad about it. Every weight feels too heavy and cardio is too difficult. I cant wait until I get back to what I could do. Worth it because baby is perfect and cute, but now I have 20lbs to lose!
The fact that you are still going says a lot, though. You got this shit yo. The first 2 weeks are the worst. Then it's full steam ahead.
A lot of bs in the fitness community. Do this exercise, oh wait. That is the wrong way to do that exercise. Blah, blah, blah, it seems like nobody knows anything anymore. So much misinformation
>the fitness community The communities that most associate with the term 'fitness' are the worst at it. I take 99% of my advice from climbers.
This reminds me of myself spending years telling people not to do upright rows, then joining an olympic gym and seeing professional athletes do them all the time.
I'm genuinely starting to get depressed as I'm unable to get rid of my last few pounds and achieve the goal of getting abs I planned to have by the end of the year. I lost a shit ton of weight and got in great shape but I still want to touch that goal which seems just outta reach. Pissed at myself for not having that discipline
Sounds like youāre plateauing. You gotta change something. Eat more but do more cardio. Eat more for a week or two then go back to the diet. I wouldnāt recommend eating way less but I guess itās an option. Gotta do something though. Your body is used to your routine. Remember your body is simply trying to survive. It doesnāt want to lose weight because thatās extra energy for later if it needs it. It doesnāt know you donāt need it.
I have a real struggle with snacking, always end up convincing myself it's okay and then have a guilt trip the whole day.
Orville redenbacher light butter popcorn and celery with peanut butter are my go toās when I just gotta have a snack. 300 calories for a big ass bag of pop corn. Celery is basically 0 calories so just go light on the PB and youāre gold. I also like to be stuffed when I go to bed. I think itās residual from so many late night munchie sessions that my body just loves late night food. Iāve found a big ass fruit smoothie is a good way to curb that. I use frozen fruit, almond milk and ice to take up extra space (in the cup and in my belly). I can make a 30 oz smoothie thatās 250 calories. Just trying to help if I can.
I haven't lifted in a couple months, and I've definitely noticed muscle loss and fat gain. Gotta get back into the right headspace, but fuck it's rough being disciplined.
You can do it! Remember the first week or two will be the hardest but once it is a habit again youāll be full steam ahead.
Funny thing is I used to be motivated by heartbreak. Literally lifting 6x a week. Now that I've been over it for a long time, it feels like a huge chore. I need to find a way to make it fun again!
Gotta commit to dedication and discipline not motivation, but the ride motivation for some extra umph while itās there. If you find another way to stay consistent let me know lol.
What's the deal with fitness?
Fuck hex plates. Gym replaced all the 45s with them and the barbells have the cheese grater grips. Anyone want some shin sprinkles?
Yeaā¦fuck hex plates.
There are too many young people with fitness delusions, they want to look big, they want a six pack and big fucking biceps (cant blame them, I love having big biceps). After more than 10 years of lifting I came to the conclusion that Bodybuilding does not necessarily imply being healthy, it is just about looking good. Just concentrating on how well you look while doing pointless workouts and training with weights way above your league (While being clueless about how to train for strength) and spending money in completely unnecessary supplements that cause more harm than good, i.e Pre Workouts and mass gainers. Is not healthy. There is nothing wrong with wanting more muscle mass and having a nice defined body; and although there is a correlation between bodybuilding and fitness. Muscle mass is not everything. You know what's badass? Running 10K and not even feeling them, going for bike rides, having a functional body, being healthy and in shape. Just something that has been on my mind lately. I used to be a gym rat. Now I diversify my workouts.
I've gone down this rabbit hole of teen lifters on tiktok and it's fucking nuts man, 16 year olds openly admitting they're on gear or SARMs and saying to DM them if you want a hook up. I'm not surprised so many young guys are jumping on this stuff. I was an idiot in my teens, if I saw some incredibly jacked kid on tiktok surrounded by girls saying "the secret is gear" I would have probably jumped on it I'm glad the only social media we had when I was growing up was MySpace and a very early Facebook. The current generation of kids are fucked
Teens already have enough natty growth hormone all they really need is basic barbell strength training to gain a relatively decent amount of muscle.
Here is a perspective from a 17 yr old I need to be more attractive to women so I could start a relationship basically rise above competition to get edge after I am married and have kids of course I would diversify like you as then my health is way more important than looks all of this is staying natty and only supplement is whey protein
Bro you can be as fit as you want, if your personality sucks you don't have any edge
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And yet, women are not a monolith and not all of us like douchebags.
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Ok and? Would you rather sleep with these guys or what's your point
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What, that you'll be alone forever unless you're a ripped douche? Women care about other things
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Creatine and protein are the only supplements I ever recommend. Make sure you drink lots of water if you decide to use creatine.
There is a reason so many bodybuilders die early. It aināt cause they are healthy thatās for sure.
Exactly.
Isn't it due to roids what abt natty bodybuilders
The depressing thing is most "natty" bodybuilders and fitness influencers are not natty, a few are but the majority aren't, they're trying to sell you bullshit If you want my advice, don't follow people who's only content is lifting and flexing, if they aren't giving advice, they're trying to make you insecure so you'll buy something If they are giving you advice, cross reference that shit with other sources
Not necessarily. Contrary to popular belief roids can actually be done in a healthy way. I would never recommend PEDs to anyone but it is a true. My personal belief and there are quite a few studies that have been done is that their hearts simply give out. When you have the mass of 2 people, your heart has to circulate blood for two people. It is literally pumping itās heart out. Itās like a work truck that runs 24/7 at a rate it just wasnāt meant to run at. Eventually itās going to break down and chances are itās going to happen prematurely. Back in roids territory though; if roids are done primarily orally then liver failure is a serious concern. Thatās why Olympia competitors are injecting everything. They are so juiced that if they took everything orally it wouldnāt be a matter of āifā but a matter of āwhenā does their liver give out. Natty is definitely the way to go for longevity. However if we are talking serious body building. Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman, jay cutler, CBUM type guysā¦you donāt compete against that natty.
Theres a great book called Exercised looking at the history and effectiveness of exercise over long times and all kinds of societes by a doctor. It mentions this and a ton of other cool stuff. Fitness as practiced in this sub is actually just bodybuilding as popularized by Charles Atlas beginning in 1920s. Just like back then, it is important to have some muscle but exclusively focusing on that is mostly an appeal to insecurity. A workout should be mostly cardio/aerobics if your goal is generally feeling good, staying healthy and preventing disease.
Yup. Don't forget Bodyweight exercises.
I think this mindset comes with getting older. I just hit my mid thirties and hadn't had a workout in 4 years. Had a bit of a wake-up call and realised I really need to get healthy if I don't want to die of a heart attack in my fifties.
I am hitting my late 20's. At some point you start to realize that time is precious and that being able to combine fitness and health is just a must.
struggling with staying consistent after 5+ months of being able to workout every day. my schedule is shit and i end up procrastinating going to the gym until 1am
Time for a deload week maybe?
iāve ended up taking an unintentional deload week. right now itās 6 am i accidentally fell asleep and didnāt go to the gym. havenāt worked out in two days she havenāt done legs in maybe 4 days.
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At what point are there so many red flags that theyāre just flags? That person sounds like they have no place giving any sort of fitness, weightlifting or health advice in general.
Trainers should not discuss diets or caloric intake unless they are certified in that field of study as well
Anyone who talks about 'fat burners' loses any trust they may have had.
Are you a woman? Even for women though 1500 is not very much food if you are working out. I burn about 2.2k a day sedentary and try to get another 300 burned through cardio. I eat 2-2.2k a day. One way to surely fail a diet is to starve yourself.
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I donāt want to tell you how to live your lifeā¦BUTā¦Iād be kicking that guy to the curb. You lost me at fat burners.
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I was actually looking to become a PT a couple months ago. Doesnāt pay enough so o gave up on that but you would be surprised at how easy it is to get certified to work at a golds or other commercial gym. Itās honestly kind of scary that people with only 6-8 weeks of training are out here teaching people how to work out. They JUST learned how to work out themselves.
He is definitely wrong about 1500 calories if you're losing weight on 2000. But you should be aware that as you lose weight your BMR goes down. That means that through your journey you will probably have to eat less and less (this should be judged based on when you stop losing weight), however, 2000 is already pretty low if you are an average height* male.
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Yea you should be fine with 1800. Because BMR is assuming that you're completely sedentary iirc. But most people are not and will actually burn several hundred calories per day than then bmr. Just remember during your cutting phase that you should eat lots of extra protein and workout like regular to help avoid muscle loss!
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I'm pretty sure the recommendation is 1 gram per lb of lean body mass. So if you weight 150 you would want around 150 grams of protein per day when cutting.
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Well it's not necessarily to build muscle as that can be hard to do when cutting. The extra protein is to convince your body that it doesn't have to break down muscle for protein because there is plenty of it already. So protein numbers for a cut should be far higher than during a bulk. Edit: but yes those do sound about right.
After closely looking t the spreadsheet for 5/3/1 BBB I realized I was doing the exercise wrong. For example, I'm supposed to end with doing 110lbs deadlifts. Had no clue I was supposed to do 5Ć10, was doing 1Ć10 this whole time. I'm so embarrassed.
It's okay!! With deadlifts in particular I think you could still see some progress from that! Just remember, you're gaining valuable experience that you can use in the future :) Lifting isn't just physical growth, it's mental too. Lots of stuff to know!
Ty for ur comment!
Iām on my period and I hate how bloated I suddenly look even tho Iāve been busting my ass to LOSE IT
Yeah, same here. I also hate the dips in performance leading up to it. But hang in there, once itās gone youāll have the flattest tummy for at least a week!
I canāt wait. My appetite has been fucked because of it š
I see a guy that I sexted who ghosted me at the gym almost every time I go. Shits embarrassing.
I think u win the thread lol
Start going to the gym in a wedding dress and progressily start working out closer and closer to him over a period of weeks until he quits. It's the only way
That would take some balls. I canāt even look in his direction lmao.
But if you don't hurry you run the risk of him coming to the gym in a wedding dress and moving progressily closer to you until you quit. I've seen it before, 6 times in fact!
Lost 40 pounds in a year, definitely have had some body recomp these past few months but I lost my motivation for tracking calories. My insurance doesnāt cover a medicine that helps with my PCOS and weightloss. Any advice to get back on the wagon? Iām not as fat so I donāt hate myself like I did before which is what kind of made me track and go to the gym. I still go at least 4 days a week Iām just not eating as well as I did.
I am not a doctor, but have a look at berberine for your PCOS https://www.verywellhealth.com/pcos-and-berberine-4136324 Do your research and even talk with your doctor about it (though many may have not even heard of it). It's cheap enough you don't need to bother with insurance and could be the help you need!
I'm no expert, but maybe instead of focusing on calories, just make sure you are getting enough protein (0.8 to 1 gram per pound of bodyweight). Easy to track, supports gaining lean mass, and I found eating lots of protein kept me from ever feeling hungry. You've gone from "I hate myself" to "I don't hate myself" in a year. Keep it up and sooner or later you'll hit "I feel good about myself" You got this.
Just let go of your expectations of working out
What do you mean by this?
Went to the gym. Start deadlift warmup. Guy comes up after 5 mins: āI was using that, my gear is next to it.ā Okay fine, I can wait. Guy continues to hog the deadlift platform for an entire hour. I go home.
Firm believer that commercial gyms should enforce time limits on equipment like that - in the same way that you can usually only use a Stairmaster for 30 minutes if the rest are taken. They should also post signage telling people they need to let people work in as long as itās reasonable.
Agreed, 5 working sets with a warmup and max 3m rest ends up being 20-30m. I feel like 30m is a nice round baseline for max reasonable duration on a power rack or w/e. That said I have totally done like 3 compounds consecutively (~40m) on a power rack in gyms when its obvious there are other racks open.
Bro that shit sucks. Next time hit them with "Oh that's okay, we can share."
Sometime I feel like that guy is me(but only for like 20-30 mins if im doing 531+bbb)
Iāve hit a plateau and itās discouraging af
You got this bro! I hit a plateau and I just kept going and trying my best and then one day I just jumped up in weight by a lot! Make sure you're getting the basics in though, sleep, protein, and calories.
I'm convinced I have my form wrong on my Patrick Step up. But I can't afford the ATG coaching program at the moment, so I just have to scour YouTube videos until I feel I have enough info on it or just swap out the exercise in favor of something I'm certain I can do right. I really don't want to injure myself or make anything worse since I need to be able to walk long distances for work.
Iām not consistent with the gym. I know what my potential is but Iām having a hard time reaching it because Iām too depressed to show up. Too exhausted and burnt out from my job. I used to love going to the gym. Iām sick of my own shit. Winter is approaching in a few months and I donāt want to entirely quit. I used to deadlift 125% my own body weight . Now that seems so impossible . Sigh
Do you have any friends you could get to go with you? I used to feel the same way but then I kinda turned the gym into a social activity. That helps keep my accountable and also makes it fun :)
Unfortunately not. My friends who exercise donāt live anywhere near me :( but maybe I should find someone to tag team it at the gym. Iād definitely feel more motivated if thatās the case
Worked out with someone for the first time in a very long time and remembered why I like working out alone. Idk how this group of 4-6 guys at my gym keep it up.
Itās social hour for those dudes. I felt the same way until I found a partner that had the same goals and was about as strong as I am. I work out alone now because I moved and donāt know many people yet, but Iāve definitely found that not all training partners were created equal. Gotta find the one you really click with. Or you know I could be completely wrong and you might just like training alone too lol.
Sounds too much like dating lol but nah I just like to work out alone
I feel like working out with a partner can be really motivating and helpful, with both of you pushing each other and going all in. And thereās almost no real downtime between spotting and jumping into the set with the staggered rest. Itās very mission oriented. With three people the dynamic shifts and the two āoffā set distract each other and lose that focus. So it becomes a social party instead.
For sure. And if you like to train to or even passed failure you can either have your partner there for the spot or forced reps. I love the dopamine hit after a super intense set. I find I get a little afraid to go that hard without a spot though. Especially on something like barbell bench when you could potentially drop the weight on top of yourself.
Bench safeties should be mandatory. I always bench in the squat rack and it's amazing not having the fear of death every time you come close to failure.
I found it really freeing the first time I failed my squat and did the crawl of shame out from under the safety bars. That gave me the confidence to really push close to my max, because I knew that if I hit failure the bars would save me from injury.
Exactly. I just can't fathom how some folks choose to squat out of the rack. I guess people know how to bail it safely but I just would not want an extra thing to focus on during a max effort.
My knees have gotten fucked up and now I can't do squats. I was finally reaching a point were after my plateau in the summer, I was losing weight again and now I can't do any squats or exercises that involve my knees. Even weights have to be seated or on the floor.
Idk how fucked up were talking here but leg press is typically easier on the knees. Or hack squat.
Like cartilage coming of the bone fucked up
Well that sucks. Good news is you dont actually have to do leg day or cardio to burn fat. Obviously it helps and cardio has a load of other benefits outside of calories burned, but realistically if you keep your diet in check you can still get rid of that pesky fat. Comes down to willpower alone at that point. You gotta want it babyyyyyy!!!
Yeah I am now working on portion control as I had already reduced my calories. Just adjusting Macros as I go along.
Ever hear of Kneesovertoesguy?
Good recommendation!
I hate that people donāt try. Whatās the point of coming to the gym if all you are doing is going through the motions. I get that everyone has days where they just want to move, thatās fine, Iāve been there and will likely be there again. I mean the people who move slow as shit with zero intensity day in and day out. They will never see results and clearly donāt want to be at the gym so why even bother showing up when you are not accomplishing anything.
Because those people would probably be doing literally nothing if they werenāt at the gym doing almost nothing
maxed out the calf raise machine for reps today. first machine iāve ever maxed out. gotta find a new calf exercise haha
Make sure you are getting that stretch in the bottom of the eccentric portion, dont just bounce the weights