Self-improvement thread! (pls no negativity or politics)

[imperiouskitten]

GAWD i believe is a four letter word

[pink grapefruit]

Okay, here's me:

School:

This has to come first. I'm doing some extremely difficult coursework this semester, and thus far have basically just not done any of the necessary studying. The entire reason I ended up back on these silly forums is bc I've been practicing "creative avoidance," and that needs to end. So I've booked my first appointment at focusmate, which promises to be awkward. Webcam chat with a stranger to be productive. We'll see if it helps.

Training:

Training is going pretty well. I adjusted my programming for the semester to something more barebones, in order to save time for studying. The volume is lower for each workout, but the idea is I maybe get one (at most) rest day a week to sort of make up for it.

A:
Pull up - 6xAMRAP
Squat - 3x8
Bench - 3x8
RDL - 3x8

B:
Chin up - 6xAMRAP
Hip thrust - 3x8
Bench - 3x8
Good morning - 3x8

Currently my biceps tendinopathy is acting up (maybe too much bench and chins), so I'm alternating between doing pulls/chins and bench- not doing both each day.

I haven't been doing cardio at all, which needs to change. Recently purchased a new bike. A goal for tomorrow is to ride it around, just for 20 mins.

Diet:

Diet isn't a super big focus of mine rn. I successfully bulked up to 160lbs and now have quite a bit of fat I could stand to lose. I'm trying to eat a big bowl of oatmeal with pea milk, greek yogurt (5g sugar/cup), and a bunch of berries for breakfast each morning I don't have work. So I'll try to keep that up.

Self-care

Wednesdays are my big self-care days, as I prepare for my work week! My goal is to have all the things done before 8pm bedtime :P

I hope to provide an update to all my things tomorrow.

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Let's go, guys!! <3

[pink grapefruit]

Originally Posted by pink grapefruit [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

School:

This has to come first. I'm doing some extremely difficult coursework this semester, and thus far have basically just not done any of the necessary studying. The entire reason I ended up back on these silly forums is bc I've been practicing "creative avoidance," and that needs to end. So I've booked my first appointment at focusmate, which promises to be awkward. Webcam chat with a stranger to be productive. We'll see if it helps.

Training:

Training is going pretty well. I adjusted my programming for the semester to something more barebones, in order to save time for studying. The volume is lower for each workout, but the idea is I maybe get one (at most) rest day a week to sort of make up for it.

A:
Pull up - 6xAMRAP
Squat - 3x8
Bench - 3x8
RDL - 3x8

B:
Chin up - 6xAMRAP
Hip thrust - 3x8
Bench - 3x8
Good morning - 3x8

Currently my biceps tendinopathy is acting up (maybe too much bench and chins), so I'm alternating between doing pulls/chins and bench- not doing both each day.

I haven't been doing cardio at all, which needs to change. Recently purchased a new bike. A goal for tomorrow is to ride it around, just for 20 mins.

Diet:

Diet isn't a super big focus of mine rn. I successfully bulked up to 160lbs and now have quite a bit of fat I could stand to lose. I'm trying to eat a big bowl of oatmeal with pea milk, greek yogurt (5g sugar/cup), and a bunch of berries for breakfast each morning I don't have work. So I'll try to keep that up.

Self-care

Wednesdays are my big self-care days, as I prepare for my work week! My goal is to have all the things done before 8pm bedtime :P

I hope to provide an update to all my things tomorrow.

Tomorrow has come!

School:

I legitimately tried the focusmate thing, but the guy I matched with never showed up. It was giving me anxiety sitting there awkwardly in front of my webcam, but that's what I get for being a sad lazy person. My plan is to force myself through this awkward webcam stuff until I learn my lesson and start acting right. Anyone foolish enough to stand in my way will suffer for it, and that includes me.

The time I was supposed to spend on webcam was spent creating my study materials. It was nice to finally get over my study paralysis. I will continue with it after posting here.

Training:

Woke up ready to go for a 20 minute bike ride only to find the air quality index was high af and the outside to be super smoky. It made me mad enough to buy a stationary bike on amazon. Now I have to figure out where in my gym to put it. It's p cramped in here lol

Barbell stuff went fine. Biceps tendon is angry. I will have to teach it a lesson with training tomorrow.

Diet:

Diet today been fine. Literally all I've eaten is that oatmeal with yogurt and berries, and a protein shake.

Self-care:

am skincare was done. the bigger stuff comes in the pm.

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Let's get it, bitches! :P

[unsunghero]

Originally Posted by pink grapefruit [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Tomorrow has come!

Barbell stuff went fine. Biceps tendon is angry. I will have to teach it a lesson with training tomorrow.

Pain is the body’s way of signaling there is an issue there. Respect it, don’t punish it!

Also, losing grip strength can be an indication you are training too hard. Little known fact in the fitness community. So pay attention to any sudden drops in grip strength to where you feel you can’t hang onto a bar as easily. A lot of people will claim overtraining is a myth, but it’s not, especially for someone trying to go really hard when starting out

[pink grapefruit]

Originally Posted by unsunghero [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I had posted this vid before, but this guy Pavel is brilliant when it comes to giving a good overview on endurance building. He does training for navy seals, special forces, and elite competitive endurance athletes in the past. If you just watch a few minutes, it becomes quite clear that he really knows his stuff

Oh, neat. Maybe the more I get into cardio the more I'll care about the ins and outs, but for now my plan is just gonna be 20 mins LISS most days, and once that's easy maybe Apple Fitness+ spin class with ipad on stationary. I watched the first 5 minutes and so far it's just basic stuff. The "talk test" is good gauge of like RPE 6.

Originally Posted by unsunghero [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

When it comes to improving squat/deadlift/bench, the big 3, I really like this smaller channel. This elite powerlifting athlete is very soft-spoken and pleasant to listen to, very knowledgeable, and he does videos where he critiques viewers form on lifts they submit. I actually found that these critiques are more helpful than just being shown the powerlifter’s personal way of doing it, because everyone has a different body type and what works for a powerlifter may not work for everyone

https://m.youtube.com/c/calgarybarbell/featured

uh huh...

I prefer the Barbell Medicine guys. Think they may have had the Calgary guy on their podcast though idk.

Originally Posted by unsunghero [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

It sounds like I’m speaking to another fellow what we call “hybrid” athlete, meaning someone that wants to dabble in both cardio and lifting, and be as good as possible in both. This is me as well. Unfortunately, these are somewhat mutually exclusive in the fact that upper body muscle is often “dead weight” for endurance sports like distance running. But these are not mutually exclusive to the extent that many in the fitness community claim. A lot of the fitness community act like doing cardio and following a clean eating plan will result in “LOSING YOUR GAINS” due to burning muscle. Based on my experience, this is largely overblown. Just stick to shorter distances like I do, such as 5k’s or shorter runs, shorter cycling if you want to cycle etc. It’s really only long distance half or full marathons that will really fully deplete the body’s glycogen stores to the point where it might need to start cannabalizing muscle. But make sure you are taking in enough calories and don’t be scared of complex carbs such as whole wheat bread, oatmeal, etc. Carbs are only unhealthy for sedentary people who are not burning them, but that are very important as an energy source for active people (more: I am not a dietician and there are effective diets such as Keto that may be completely different)

I'm primarily a barbell athlete and likely always will be. Cardio endurance is something I've been meaning to get into for general health, and my best friend is a cardio endurance athlete. She's invited me to go on bike rides and when I ride my bike I feel like I'm dying, so I know I need to get better at it if I plan to hang w her.

Originally Posted by unsunghero [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Pain is the body’s way of signaling there is an issue there. Respect it, don’t punish it!

Also, losing grip strength can be an indication you are training too hard. Little known fact in the fitness community. So pay attention to any sudden drops in grip strength to where you feel you can’t hang onto a bar as easily. A lot of people will claim overtraining is a myth, but it’s not, especially for someone trying to go really hard when starting out

You're doing a whole lot of mansplaining here and it's not really necessary. I know what I'm doing.

Rest is not recommended, and pain symptoms are part of the process.

I've decreased the training volume directed at the affected area, and lowered the load intensity of my bench press. The way I talk about my recovery works for me, and you don't need to worry about it.

Thanks for your enthusiasm, though.

[unsunghero]

Originally Posted by pink grapefruit [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Oh, neat. Maybe the more I get into cardio the more I'll care about the ins and outs, but for now my plan is just gonna be 20 mins LISS most days, and once that's easy maybe Apple Fitness+ spin class with ipad on stationary. I watched the first 5 minutes and so far it's just basic stuff. The "talk test" is good gauge of like RPE 6.



uh huh...

I prefer the Barbell Medicine guys. Think they may have had the Calgary guy on their podcast though idk.



I'm primarily a barbell athlete and likely always will be. Cardio endurance is something I've been meaning to get into for general health, and my best friend is a cardio endurance athlete. She's invited me to go on bike rides and when I ride my bike I feel like I'm dying, so I know I need to get better at it if I plan to hang w her.



You're doing a whole lot of mansplaining here and it's not really necessary. I know what I'm doing.

Rest is not recommended, and pain symptoms are part of the process.

I've decreased the training volume directed at the affected area, and lowered the load intensity of my bench press. The way I talk about my recovery works for me, and you don't need to worry about it.

Thanks for your enthusiasm, though.

Hadn’t heard of Barbell Medicine, I’ll have to check them out

Someone saying this hurts so I’m going to punish it is someone indicating a possible future injury. Has nothing to do with me being a man to try to prevent it. Tendon pain is not necessarily part of the process, is this what the Barbell Medicine guys are teaching? From my experience the only time I’ve experienced tendon pain is when I’ve had an injury or issue with that tendon. I think had you phrased it as planning to decrease the training to the specific area, I wouldn’t have said anything at all. It was just a phrasing issue, I misunderstood based on your phrasing

Sorry for the misunderstanding and trying to be helpful. Best of luck to ya

[pink grapefruit]

Originally Posted by unsunghero [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Hadn’t heard of Barbell Medicine, I’ll have to check them out

Someone saying this hurts so I’m going to punish it is someone indicating a possible future injury. Has nothing to do with me being a man to try to prevent it. Tendon pain is not necessarily part of the process, is this what the Barbell Medicine guys are teaching? From my experience the only time I’ve experienced tendon pain is when I’ve had an injury or issue with that tendon. I think had you phrased it as planning to decrease the training to the specific area, I wouldn’t have said anything at all. It was just a phrasing issue, I misunderstood based on your phrasing

Sorry for the misunderstanding and trying to be helpful. Best of luck to ya

I've had two arthroscopic shoulder surgeries. Torn labrum, stretched tendon.

Chronic tendinopathy.

[Gustoo]

Overtraining is real. In the 70's a swimmer would swim like 5 hours a day hard and couldn't even eat enough calories to keep up with the burn and get faster. Gotta be smart and train based on your goals.

[unsunghero]

Originally Posted by Gustoo [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Overtraining is real. In the 70's a swimmer would swim like 5 hours a day hard and couldn't even eat enough calories to keep up with the burn and get faster. Gotta be smart and train based on your goals.

Yeah I wasn’t really bringing up the grip strength as an indication of overtraining because I thought she was, I just found it interesting and a little tidbit I hadn’t heard of before that had personally happened to me before

There was a period of time where I would do squats (5x5’s), then run a fast 4 miles right after on the gym treadmill, then go do deadlifts, then a full 2 hour leg/ab/back/oblique workout. It ended up being close to 3 hours of super intense exercise. I noticed after some time I couldn’t hang onto the deadlift bar (I don’t use straps), and even it was hard to hang onto the pull-up bar. Then my entire body started to ache, joints, muscles, everything, and I started feel nauseous. Stupidly I had thought if I just ate enough, it would be ok, but the body couldn’t recover from that. I was also getting poor sleep. But yeah, the grip strength going, didn’t know about at the time but that coulda been my warning

Some elite CrossFit athletes have actually given themselves rnhabdomylosis, which is where the muscle fibers break down into the blood stream and DESTROY their liver as it tries to filter them. Horrible shit, wouldn’t wish it on anyone

Once again, I didn’t mean to imply pink-grapefruit was overtraining, I just thought that tidbit about how to recognize it was interesting and wish I had known it

[imperiouskitten]

Originally Posted by Cecily [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

DBT is my favorite. Avoiding and refusing to accept reality is where most of our pain/trauma comes from. DBT gives you tools to confront and accept things and move on. I always found CBT absolutely worthless.

this is very funny to me, I have had the very same experience. were you pursuing treatment for borderline by chance? that's when this hit me [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I DONT THINK IM REALLY BORDERLINE THOUGH, it's more like a humon has to learn new coping skills to deal with these relationship-focused mood swings induced by E. I bet I was not much worse than any given teenage hormonal girl. I have gotten my bad behaviors pretty crazy under control now compared to 2 years ago! Haven't driven off telling Juris im going to buy a rifle from walmart and hotel room in many moons -_-

As for my own health goalz. I am happy with my aesthetic right now, but I am muscularly very weak. I just survived about 6 months of intermittent starvation thanks to gut problem and god I am so weak I can't give a handjob. I am having trouble filling this poast out because my health plans are so ill-conceived right now [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] I better poast again soon after I build up an exercise boner. I think I will mostly use the recumbent bike in my living room, and maybe do some winter snowshoeing and mountaineering this year. I've skipped 2 years of that!