Barghest

Well, my boyfriend of over two years and I broke up last night. It was mutual and we're still close friends - we decided it was the best thing to do, and that if we stayed together we would only continue to grow apart and let resentment build. Last night I brought (almost) all of my stuff from his place back to my mom's house, where I'm now living again. Found a few of his things there too. It was a hard night, and it's been a hard day. I'm going to hit the gym today like usual and try to give it my all, but I only got about 2.5 hours of sleep last night and haven't been able to stomach eating much, so we'll see how it goes. Anyone have any self-care tips for nice indulgences when you're feeling really, deeply sad? Things that aren't "sit in bed and eat a pint of ice cream," I mean. My funds are pretty minimal, so something really indulgent like a spa day is out.

Thanks, everyone! After doing some searching, I think I'm going to go ahead and start looking for an old military rucksack - though I have to say I do very much like the UnderArmour design. I can be a sucker for fun colors. But I can always spruce up the rucksack some - particularly since it seems to fit all my other criteria very well!

Wow, I didn't realize it's been a whole week since I've checked back here. I missed a day in terms of vegetables last week (lots of overtime plus gaming night = not-great food choices), but otherwise I think two of my two goals went extremely well. I made it to the gym every single time I intended to, and one mistake in a whole month isn't a problem as far as I'm concerned. The other two, though... Sleeping just didn't go well. I need to work on this more, and right now I think I just need to spend time struggling with it for a bit - I don't think a quick fix is going to work on my sleep time. I'm going to add it to my list of goals for next challenge period. As for being on-plan... Eh. I'm not thrilled with how I did, but really, I don't think it was super awful. Most of the days I didn't stick to the plan, I still ate healthy - just differently. Given that I'm trying to alter my relationship with food to something a little healthier in general, I think that's a good sign, and am satisfied with how this went overall, despite the numbers showing not-great results. Looking forward to this upcoming session - I'm going to give my goals some thought, and post within the next day or two, I think.

Thanks, Blocky! The kettlebell press is something I've never tried - I always forget the kettlebells - but I'll definitely try that next time! Someone I asked at the gym suggested TRX rows too, so I'll think about adding that in too.

Still doing pretty well overall, I think. Checking in today right before heading out to the gym for shoulders/arms day. I've made a few adjustments lately, and I'm going to try making another today - I'm going to leave my phone in my locker at the gym this time. I think I tend to check it too much and lose track of how much I'm resting. Also, I'm going to deload in general on a lot of the exercises I'm doing, and focus on really building up with good form and trying to pause at the height of the contraction for things like chest flys, for example. This way, I think I can get a more intense exercise that takes less time to get through - I'd like to go down from two hours per session to about 90 minutes, though I expect that to vary depending on whether I'm doing a day with a high number of reps per set, where I'll naturally need more rest again. Finally, I went hiking up the 12th highest mountain in the state yesterday (the aptly-named Giant Mountain) and it absolutely kicked my ass. I was reminded of two things: I need a smaller hiking backpack, and I have been neglecting my cardiovascular system for too long. I do prefer weight training to cardio, but I think I've gone a bit too far with it, and I need to go back to a more well-rounded program. So that's something to work on - probably my next challenge! Now then - off to the gym!

Hey all! I have decided to start showering at the gym most nights, so I would like to obtain a gym bag for the purpose. I am hoping someone can point me in the right direction. Must-haves: - Easy to clean; ideally I would like to be able to chuck it in the laundry (I am fine with some work like removing straps/turning inside-out/etc) - Very resistant to mildew (it will hold a damp towel for 1-4 hours every night) - Able to be hung on a hook inside the shower stall and get spritzed with water sometimes without soaking through Would be great: - Two decent-sized separate main compartments (one for my damp towel, shower shoes, etcetera and one for my work clothes) - A couple smaller compartments (for shower supplies, my workout notebook, water bottle, etcetera) - Not ginormous (the gym I go to has smallish lockers, and sometimes things that get left out get taken, so I always lock my stuff up) If there's a company that makes custom duffel bags, I'd love to hear about it. I'm willing to pay a bit extra for a really nice bag - three years of consistent gym-going and I'm still working out of a shopping bag, so I feel like I can treat myself a bit for this thing I really want. Thanks for any and all recommendations!

Thanks! Checking in again today. Last night was deadlift day, which went pretty well I think. I'm doing some high-rep work on TRX rows and lat pulldown, and I'm up to 95lbs for 15 reps on the latter, which is excellent. Really trying to focus on doing some shoulder work - it's a huge weak spot for me. Actually, Steve's recent posts about gymnastics rings, coupled with the awesome body comp work he's done with them, makes me think maybe I'll try out some ring work of my own. How important is having the small rings for someone with small hands, I wonder...? I finally got to sleep before 11 on Monday night! Clearly I needed it, because I was still tired on Tuesday. I've been feeling a bit worn-down lately, particularly after full days of moderate activity - I'm thinking maybe I'm not recouping well enough now that I'm hitting the gym four days a week instead of three. Gonna try adding some BCAAs to start out with to see if the immediate effects will help stave off longer-term fatigue, and make sure to hydrate in the meantime. If that doesn't do the trick, I'll have to redouble my efforts on sleep.

Thanks for the suggestion! I've been trying to get off the computer/phone about 30 minutes in advance, but maybe I'll move it to an hour and see if that helps me stick to it a little better. Once I turn off the lights I usually don't have a hard time getting to sleep, but maybe deciding not to use screens will lower distractions and get me to actually finish what I need to finish before my chosen lights-out time. Overall I'd call this a good week. Still definitely struggling with bedtime, but everything else went well and got accomplished the way I hoped. Leg day killed - 165lb squat for 8 reps, four times, followed by a whole bunch of accessory exercises (including an extra set of leg presses at 375 because I got distracted and lost track of what I was doing). Hoping to include a few more veggies next week than my go-to broccoli, but it won't be the end of the world if I don't. I love broccoli anyway.

This is what I'm a little confused about, I guess. I've been using an alternating grip (left hand under, right hand over on heavy weight, switched on lower weight). I also get blisters in the pad at the top of the palm, but this blister is newer. I think I'm closing my hand fully around the bar, but sometimes I find my grip slipping because I have extremely sweaty hands. I'll try to get a picture taken; usually I'm at the gym alone, but maybe I can set the timer on the camera or something. I have used gloves before, but the first pair started to gather into a little clump that would poke right into my finger joint, and the stitching fell apart on the other pair within about six months of purchase, so I don't think they'd help anyway. I'm open to using chalk, but would prefer liquid chalk because my gym doesn't allow it (though they only enforce this with people who aren't super muscular; the big dudes are apparently allowed to use chalk).

I get like this sometimes too. It sort of comes in phases, often when I'm feeling like I'm doing really well. I get into this pattern of thinking "Man, I've been doing so well lately, just one night of doing the same thing everyone else is doing won't hurt me." But then A: It does, and B: I don't notice it has until I've gone down that road five or six times in two weeks. My friends are extremely food-social, so there's a huge amount of opportunity/temptation around me all the time. It doesn't always work, but a few things I've found that help: - Eat a big, healthy meal beforehand. I mean a huge meal - like, I couldn't possibly want to eat anything for the rest of the night kind of meal, but made up entirely of stuff I can eat a lot of without a problem. I'm kind of ridiculously into steamed broccoli, so a giant bowl of just that with chicken and hot sauce or whatever is my go-to. - Follow that up by drinking loads of water. Every time I think, "Maybe I'll just have one-" I decide I'll finish my drink, refill it, and then decide whether I still want the thing. If I do, well, my glass is already full and I can decide to finish my drink before eating the thing again. Repeat all night. Bonus - gets you away from the food by taking a zillion bathroom breaks. - Sit at least three or four steps away from the food if at all possible, and/or resolve that every time you are going to eat something, you'll ask someone else to pass just one to you. This latter thing works well for me because I am weird and don't like other people touching my food, and also don't want to draw attention to how much I'm eating by standing up repeatedly or asking over and over again.

Deadlift day today - 230x2, for five sets. Went up pretty easy actually - the only dilemma was that by the last set my hands hurt like crazy. The rest of the session went pretty well - I was at my second-choice gym again, so lots of high school folks around, many of whom were just messing around and taking up way more space than necessary, but I was in and out of the room anyway, so it wasn't too much of a hassle. Tomorrow will be bench day, I think, then squats on Thursday and shoulders/arms on Friday. In terms of my other goals - veggies have been spot-on so far, and sleep has been pretty okay. I got plenty of sleep over the weekend, which was lovely, but doesn't count toward my goal unfortunately. At least I'll be starting this week with a 100% on-plan eating day. I'm calling yesterday on-plan too, because even though I didn't eat all the foods on my plan, I think I still got roughly the same macros from what I did eat.

Usually I don't have the chance to eat in the ~60-90 minute window before my gym session, but maybe I'll start bringing the BCAA powder in a shaker to work and drink it on the way - that might make some difference. I also noticed that I had fewer DOMS after that session. We played Mysterium first, then went to get frozen yogurt and came back to play a few rounds of Fibbage/Drawful. After friends left, I played some Saints Row the Third, which I've been playing the last few days. I like it a lot better than the GTA demos I've tried (never played the whole game) because it's a more self-aware game that doesn't take itself seriously.

Wow, eating within like an hour of hitting the gym really makes a difference - either that or I just had a lot of excess energy today. Today is mostly an accessory day to shore up some weaknesses in the back/shoulder area, but it went really well. Could have upped the weight some on skullcrushers, but the gym was getting ready to close and I didn't want to lose time fiddling around with changing out the plates. Looking forward to an evening of video games, at first alone and then with friends!

I keep getting a recurring blister deep in the first pad of my right ring finger; first one up from the palm, that is. It comes from deadlifting, but I think it's exacerbated by all pulling exercises, really. Short of sticking a needle in my finger once a week to pop the thing (which I understand is a Bad Idea), anyone have some advice for how to avoid this and/or get a callus to form faster so it's a non-issue? Or do I just need to suck it up?

The soreness from leg day didn't last nearly as long as I thought it did - maybe taking BCAAs that day helped? I haven't been doing that, but maybe I will start up again. I'll test again after tomorrow's session, which will be shoulders/arms. Rep deadlift day on Thursday - four sets at 200lbs for eight reps. The gym was busy, so I ended up sharing the bar and shortening my rests quite a bit - still, these were pretty good. I have a blister on my right ring finger that hurts like crazy though - not sure how best to make it go away. Nutrition and training sessions are going well - but I need to do more work on sleeping. I got to bed once by 11, and that was last night. (I'm not trying for an 11pm bedtime on weekends, so here I am at 1:35am writing this.) I'm going to work harder on keeping track of time in the evening, so I don't look up from whatever I'm doing at 10:30pm and realize I haven't showered or made my lunch for the next day.