Deckard Gainz

Hey, congrats on the weight trending in the direction you want, and passing that 60 pt milestone. I hope the dude that messed with your workout was just a newbie unaware of etiquette or something, and not just blatantly messing with you. I'm guessing there will be a lot of fresh faces at a lot of gyms after this whole event, for better or worse.

There are plenty of folks who claim deloads aren't necessary at all, and for a lot of people that's probably true. Everything is a lever, and you can pull any of the levers you want, however you want. Decreasing frequency does the same thing as decreasing volume/rest time/intensity in any configuration, more or less.* I bet you could save a lot of time with a single working set. I have a silly thing in my head that anything under 3 sets isn't really worth my time unless I'm training towards a max attempt or something. I acknowledge this is as silly as any other hard rule on this kinda stuff, but it's my brain and I can be as silly as I want with it. So usually my "make it easier" tweak is increasing intensity and decreasing volume. Like 3 sets of 3 is going to be much more chill than 4+ sets of 5+ even if the weight is heavier. Apparently CNS fatigue isn't too much of a problem for me in the powerbuilding set/rep range or else that might sound like a nightmare. I very rarely put up really big numbers though. Basement solo lifting contributes to this for sure. On Tuesday I did 50 deadlifts around and above my body weight, which was hell, but was fine. On Wednesday I ate one (1) banana and hit a new bench PR: 245 lbs for 5 ( and 3 reverse pyramid style sets after--this is me "decreasing volume"). I had a large and filling dinner after that, so don't worry that I'm undereating. I find most of my success in cutting comes from further restricting my eating window rather than attempting smaller portions or whatever else people do. Yesterday I rested, ate grilled chicken and pizza, and still clocked in under 2k cals. Macros aren't great, but uhhh, call it a refeed. Whatever. According to the 1rm calcs I've used, my new bench PR suggests I should be able to bench 275 lbs, which would be an increase over my actual bench max of 265 lbs as of late 2019. I haven't made any attempts since. It would be really cool to crack 300. Maybe that could be an end-of-year goal for me. That might require actual programming though, which, ehhhh, we'll see. BF% is still the highest priority. I did clock in at a relative low weight recently, but pizza did not make the scale happy (I assume this is more about salt and water retention than food intake). The plan for this afternoon is SKWATS, which would put me at 3 workouts for the week again. I think this is the sweet spot for recovery for me, but I also want to push work capacity so I hope to get back to 4 soon. I will be going out of town on Friday next week so it's doubtful I'll get in 4 unless I skip a rest day, which sounds like hell. Anyway I am just rambling at this point so I will sign off here. *I'm sure there are a million subtle differences in the ways these changes affect potential (as I've insinuated in other comments), but I imagine for someone around my level, these differences are not meaningful enough to me to antagonize over.

Quick update: managed 3 workouts total last week, which did not end up being deloaded at all. It was fine. I think having one less workout day may be enough to catch up a little on recovery. I will continue to monitor fatigue levels going into next week, but I'm really hoping I can just decrease overall frequency on occasion rather than do deloaded workouts. I hate feeling like I'm wasting a bunch of time just going through the motions. I had drinks on Thursday for no reason in particular, and predictably had a lot on Sunday between two different parties. I think I'm going to try and pare this one down to 1 drinks night per week. It's fun, but a big setback.

Lots of people fail to do reasonable things and also succeed at doing unreasonable things, all the time. One thing that helps me is to go beyond the short-term challenge goals and try to put some mental focus on the longer-term actual reason(s) for doing this stuff. Are you trying to be healthy so you can stay alive on this earth longer and spend more time with the ones you love? Are you trying to improve your physique so when you go out in public, "everyone either wants you or wants to be you?" Are you sharpening your body into a weapon to wield against your enemies? In fact, I find the more unreasonable hopes/dreams/expectations to be more motivating than the reasonable ones. I can only speak for myself of course, but trying to bargain with myself about the "reasonableness" of something I just don't want to do mostly just makes me feel worse about not doing it. A far more successful way for my superego to penetrate my id is to bring it back to the raw emotions associated with these goals. Do it for love, do it for lust, do it for hate... not "because it's reasonable."

Oh oops I have been following along but missed that you actually responded to me directly, or maybe I saw and forgot before I could respond. Forums move fast sometimes. Anyways I'm glad my offhand comment started a whole Max Max thing. I am also looking forward to seeing the tattoo. I have kinda been struggling to find a game that really hooks me recently. I recently replayed Katana Zero because it has a soundtrack so amazing that Spotify told me it was my top listened-to album of 2020. I really like the idea of Civilization games but Civ 6 runs so poorly on my switch that it's put me off from playing more. I just recently bought a game called Pathway, which is like a Raiders of the Lost Ark board game but with tactics combat. It seems pretty cool so far but it's doing that whole roguelike kinda thing, which usually makes it difficult for me to mentally invest unless there's some thread of progression (like Hades, which is fantastic). Are you playing anything good?

Oof, I have made a few attempts at the super early gym time. Never been able to make it "my routine." Hopefully you have better luck. Whatcha writing? Is that too deep/personal/hard to explain?

I'm definitely grateful for the space and the means to have acquired some high-value equipment. My considerations were not meant to come off as complaints if that's what it seemed like. I never grew too dependent on machines so it's not terribly restrictive in my case. I have to do my overhead presses seated, and I do miss the assisted pull-up and lat pull machines, but otherwise there's little change beyond ambiance. Generally, this is how I structure a workout: - 1 primary compound movement, 3-5 sets, 60-80% 1rm, 5-15 reps (usually no more than 12) - 1 opposite (quads/hams, chest/back, etc) secondary compound variation movement, usually 3 sets, 8-15 reps (I don't really have 1rms for these) - 2-3 auxiliary/isolation lifts, 3 sets 8-15 reps, usually superset 2 of them Sometimes I will do 1 heavier first set and then back off 10-15% for the rest, sometimes I will treat all my sets like AMRAPs, and back off if I'm struggling to stay in hypertrophy range (at least 5 reps), sometimes I will do a hard AMRAP backoff set or two if I am 3ish sets in and already feeling too tired to keep up with straight sets at my desired training weight... so to some extent, I am hitting most of those bullet points in one way or another. It depends on how I'm feeling that day. My aversion to high frequency is less about the quality of gym and more about my work capacity and ability to recover. Also my general commitment to exercise. When you start talking about 10+ hours in the gym over 5+ days a week, that's a part-time job. My most ambitious schedule right now is about half that, and when I hit all those days, I am pooped. So anyway, I am pooped. I hit all 4 workout days both of the last two weeks, and the fatigue from that became pretty obvious over last weekend. My body is still mostly used to 2-3 hard workouts per week. To exacerbate things, I spent a good 3-4 hours on Sunday gardening, pulling weeds, and digging up a few "weed trees" that have been hiding in the bushes and grown deep, thick roots that require shovels and chains and all sorts of hard labor to remove. I was sore in all sorts of weird places and still pretty fatigued from a few hard weeks in a row. I took the last two nights off, and I'm leaning towards doing a couple deload type workouts to round out this week. Although, some death metal and a little good old-fashioned machismo might upgrade them to regular workouts, but we'll see what I feel like once my hands touch the bar this afternoon. My weight has bounced back up, so maybe there's not a trend yet, but it's not something I'm going to antagonize over. C'est la vie.

If it's at all interesting to you, here's my citation for saying "I've also read that there's some evidence it doesn't matter too much beyond 100g or so total" (please ignore the casually gendered vernacular - the research being referenced was conducted on male and female athletes). https://www.strongerbyscience.com/athlete-protein-intake/

First off, good on you for at least making an attempt to use a different program. I have experienced similar frustrations with MFP, and my solution was to give up on tracking completely. I'll be interested to see if Fit Genie is truly better. It seems like without some programmatic data entry, these sorts of apps will always be subject to human error, of which there seems to be a particularly high volume and intensity when it comes to calculating calories and macros from food. 1g/lb protein seems in line with a lot of what I've read about muscle growth, unless that's changed in the last couple years. On second thought, I think that ratio is usually based on "lean muscle mass weight" vs actual weight. I've also read that there's some evidence it doesn't matter too much beyond 100g or so total. Still though, if the plan is to end up in a certain calorie range, and you're getting enough fat to regulate hormones, protein is probably a more useful macro to fill in the gaps than carbs or more fat.

I hadn't heard of shin box before so I ended up trying some out at the end of last week and was surprised to feel some tightness. After loosening up with them, I felt like my normal gait had suddenly taken on a "model going down the catwalk" feel because everything felt so much looser. I might end up working these into my routine a little more often. Glad to hear they are working well for you.

Welcome, and good luck on the challenge. With regards to barbells and spotters, I'm not sure what your gym provides, but most gyms have some sort of safety mechanisms you can (and should) set up to provide a place to drop the barbell and safely move out of the way. They're not always obvious so if you don't see them around, consider asking the gym staff about them if you do eventually want to try out more of the barbell activities (which I highly recommend). I also want to reiterate what some other fine folks have said: soreness for a few days after lifting is completely normal, and can be worked through. Having only 1 arm be sore would be a little concerning for me, but it is possible, especially if it's your non-dominant arm, that there is a strength differential between your arms, which hopefully lifting will help balance.

I've said it in the past but it's worth repeating: as someone with no interest in competing, the difference between being able to lift 400 lbs and 500lbs has very little meaningful impact on my life, but there are myriad benefits to looking better, including (mental) health. At this point this mostly means losing fat (incidentally probably my biggest physical health risk factor as well), which has less to do with what types of workouts I do, more to do with diet/nutrition, and why I'm mostly fine just farting around with barbells. There are, however, some considerations I have to make when thinking about programming. For the next few months at least, I will be continuing to work out in my basement, which has a bench/squat rack, pull-up bar, adjustable DBs, and a low ceiling that prohibits me from doing anything (standing + overhead) and stuff like step-ups. I don't know that I care to spend 2+ hours 5-6 days a week cranking on mostly isolation lifts These are the main reasons I'm not pursuing a true BB workout, even though my goals probably align best with bodybuilding. "Powerbuilding" is my compromise for the moment, and why I'm in the set/rep ranges I am. My current shenanigans were once, many moons ago, based on juggernaut. In challenge news, I hit my first 2 workouts for the week as scheduled. Once upon a time back when I was doing Stronglifts 5x5, I would routinely get stuck at 225lbs on the bench, which sucks because I was very excited about pressing 2 plates. I deloaded and made fresh attempts a few times, but I always lost a few reps towards the end. I was also struggling with straight progression on many of my other lifts too at the time, and ultimately I switched to juggernaut before ever succeeding. For whatever reason, I don't think I have ever done that exact set/rep/weight scheme since (rarely if ever has 5x5 at 80+% 1rm been on the menu since then) but last night I knocked it out for the first time on a whim. So, there can be some cool moments when you make up your workouts as you go. Also for the last couple days I've clocked in under 250lbs for the first time in a while. In the past few years, my lightest weight was 217, working out 4 nights a week, eating very low carb, and little-to-no drinking. Usually my equilibrium weight is around 240 (at least for the past 5ish years), so my quarantine weight is +10ish. I don't like to build goals/expectations around weight but it is nice to see a hint of the numbers trending downwards.

You know, it could be fortuitous that you stumbled in on the house when it was full of water. You could be like me and buy a house with a partially finished (carpeted, to be specific) basement, only to later discover that it does get water in it, and the people who flipped it only put the carpet down to hide the asbestos tile underneath. Anyway, if you need any tips on how to retile a basement, I got you.

To be fair, this is exactly how I play RPGs. I adapt to the situation and increase stats accordingly, occasionally overcompensating some places and allowing others to languish. It's a very human way of dealing with things. We're an adaptable species, and we're often prone to overcorrection. If your main complaint with yourself is that you're waiting and allowing yourself to be dissatisfied for too long, then it sounds like your course of action should be to evaluate your wants and desires, and make necessary adjustments, on a more frequent basis. Even if you are overcorrecting, more frequent calibrations should overall lead the trend lines towards the directions you want with less meandering. One thing this requires is confidence: confidence that you know what you want and need and that you know the steps to take, or have the means to find out, in order to achieve those things. In my experience, a lack of confidence has been the primary obstacle to assessing a situation and making the necessary changes to fix or improve that situation. You can't let opportunity costs get in the way of that. The grass will always be greener over in the "higher INT" camp, or wherever you're not currently.

Sounds like everyone's got a lot of tips for staying cool. I don't have too much to add there, but I can certainly commiserate with being miserable and sapped of energy in extreme heat. Hope things cool down for you soon.