Devout_Haruhiist's First Strength Challenge

[Devout_Haruhiist]

Hello!

I am new here but finally got through the bulk of the tutorials and realized my joining coincided well with the challenge window! So here I am with my first proto-challenge to see how it goes. I am thinking of the following four goals:

 

1. Continue to train 4 times a week (including whatever I can do when I am away for a week) [PROGRESS 0/16]

    I started a newer, more intense strength/muscle/conditioning training regime with my trainer about 2 months ago. So far it has been going pretty well, but I want to maintain the consistent habit and be able to persist with this tougher routine (compared to my previous, lighter one).

 

2. Track strength in various lifts and ability to do other things (pullups, pushups, etc.). [PROGRESS: TBD]

   One thing I have been notoriously bad at is tracking my progress strength-wise. From before I started I have always been pretty below average in strength and that mentality has held me back a lot. I know one thing to fight against that is to track my strength to see how it improves but I can never seem to do it right. I hope to do a comparison in 4 weeks and see how things improve. At this point I am not setting any specific goal on improvement I want to see; just want to track if there is any at all.

 

3. Eat better. More specifically, make sure I am getting at least 2000 calories a day. I am someone who really struggles to want to eat at all, and when I do it's rarely anything good for me. While I have gotten better supplementing with protein shakes I am still almost always at a caloric deficit which is obviously hindering or outright stopping any strength gains (and associated size). Definitely looking for tips here as it has been something I have tried a lot of tactcs on to no avail. [PROGRESS: 0/28]

 

4. Pay debts. Simple one here-- put at least $800 towards my credit card debts this month.

 

I look forward to checking in on this forum. I am trying to get better with my "online" social interactions and don't have much experience with forums. Thanks!

 

[Scaly Freak]

58 minutes ago, Devout_Haruhiist said:

One thing I have been notoriously bad at is tracking my progress strength-wise. From before I started I have always been pretty below average in strength and that mentality has held me back a lot. I know one thing to fight against that is to track my strength to see how it improves but I can never seem to do it right.

 

Do you know why this is? Do you keep forgetting to track?  Do you struggle to find a good way to track? If you can figure out your main obstacle, the one circumstance that is preventing you from tracking progress the way you want to track, then you can start taking steps to adress the obstacle in question.

 

And welcome to the warriors! The more the merrier!  

[Harriet]

Welcome to the warriors! Good luck with the lifting, tracking, eating and finances. 

 

3 hours ago, Devout_Haruhiist said:

I know one thing to fight against that is to track my strength to see how it improves but I can never seem to do it right. I hope to do a comparison in 4 weeks and see how things improve. At this point I am not setting any specific goal on improvement I want to see; just want to track if there is any at all.

 

What exactly do you mean, you can't seem to do it right? How can you do it wrong? Don't you just, idk, write down your best lifts and the date occasionally? And say, "oh, last December I could only lift x, now I can lift x+z"?  

 

[Devout_Haruhiist]

Good questions. I think part of it is the workouts that my trainer has me do, which I like and are challenging, often do not have a lot of benchmarking. For example we don't really test things like 1RM or stuff like that. And if we do some lifts they seem to always have different variations (e.g. some difference in grip, stance, tempo, etc.) so there is never an apples to apples comparison in my mind.

[Harriet]

1 hour ago, Devout_Haruhiist said:

Good questions. I think part of it is the workouts that my trainer has me do, which I like and are challenging, often do not have a lot of benchmarking. For example we don't really test things like 1RM or stuff like that. And if we do some lifts they seem to always have different variations (e.g. some difference in grip, stance, tempo, etc.) so there is never an apples to apples comparison in my mind.

Oh, fair enough. If you're always switching it up it would be hard to compare. Can you just test a few favourite lifts once a month or something? 

[Devout_Haruhiist]

Yeah, I should probably do that

[Scaly Freak]

Might also be worth talking to your trainer. Tell them you want to be able to track your progress and ask for suggestions. That seems like the sort of thing a trainer should be able to help you with.

[Devout_Haruhiist]

Yeah, it is something I have brought up before but it gets a bit lost in the shuffle. You are right that I should keep bringing it up.

 

Btw, scalyfreak that is an impressive history you have of challenges! I find people like you and others on the site are much more eloquent with writing their challenges up lol. I am already impressed with how well everyone communicates via forum here. I have never been able to keep up with forums or made any real connections through them (mostly my fault); or any kind of online media for that matter.

[Scaly Freak]

I write my challenges like a story because that helps me stay focused and helps me come back here for the next challenge cycle. Eloquence has nothing to do with it.  

 

(If you want to see impressive, look at everyone else in the guild. I'm just another NPC passing by. )

[Devout_Haruhiist]

Nice! Well I appreciate the encouragement. Hopefully this time I will be able to consistently update this haha

[Blocky]

27 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Oh, fair enough. If you're always switching it up it would be hard to compare. Can you just test a few favourite lifts once a month or something? 

 

21 minutes ago, scalyfreak said:

Might also be worth talking to your trainer. Tell them you want to be able to track your progress and ask for suggestions. That seems like the sort of thing a trainer should be able to help you with.

 

Even with my most ADHD clients that want new workouts constantly, I still rotate benchmarks in to track progress. It's not hard to do.

[Deckard Gainz]

13 hours ago, Devout_Haruhiist said:

Eat better. More specifically, make sure I am getting at least 2000 calories a day.... Definitely looking for tips here as it has been something I have tried a lot of tactcs on to no avail.

 

Drink milk. Eat nuts, and nut butters. Add a chicken breast to whatever meals you can. Date a chef. Do you do any cooking yourself now? What kinds of stuff do you like when you do eat? Diet is far more important than exercise for changing body composition. Figuring this out should be your first priority.

 

10 hours ago, Devout_Haruhiist said:

For example we don't really test things like 1RM or stuff like that. And if we do some lifts they seem to always have different variations (e.g. some difference in grip, stance, tempo, etc.) so there is never an apples to apples comparison in my mind.

 

There's value in trying out different things but constantly doing something new every workout makes it difficult to establish good enough form to really cultivate improvement beyond general physical preparedness. Do you have any specific goals around the workouts you're doing? Lift X, do Y conditioning exercise in Z time, etc?

 

Welcome to the warriors and good luck on your challenge!

[Devout_Haruhiist]

Hey Deckard! Thanks for the advice and nice name, haha.

 

Diet, I agree, is the most important and also most difficult. I am allergic to (tree) nuts and get sick of peanut stuff very quickly. I have also 0 (and I mean 0) experience preparing food. My family never really cooked except on holidays so I don't have that tradition to come from, we just always went out. Any tips on where to start would be good (is the Nerd Fitness "nutrition module" helpful in this regard?)! I think it would take me awhile to adjust to eating food I prepared though.

 

I have never been a good goal setter so that is on me, certainly. I don't really have any specific goals for lifts, I guess I don't know what is realistic.

[Devout_Haruhiist]

On a side note I did have a really good workout today where I actually felt just a tiny bit good afterwards, which is a feat for me.

[Scaly Freak]

44 minutes ago, Devout_Haruhiist said:

Any tips on where to start would be good (is the Nerd Fitness "nutrition module" helpful in this regard?)! I think it would take me awhile to adjust to eating food I prepared though.

 

Start here, and scroll down to the nutrition column in the center. Pick the article that looks most relevant, and read that one, then go back and read the others one by one. Educating yourself is never wrong.

 

And peanut stuff is overrated.  

[Harriet]

2 hours ago, Devout_Haruhiist said:

I have also 0 (and I mean 0) experience preparing food. My family never really cooked except on holidays so I don't have that tradition to come from, we just always went out. Any tips on where to start would be good (is the Nerd Fitness "nutrition module" helpful in this regard?)! I think it would take me awhile to adjust to eating food I prepared though.

 

You can totally learn to cook. I did. Just pick a simple meal and try it. If it works, add it to your list. If it doesn't, try something else. 

[Deckard Gainz]

Check out the articles if you have time and are into reading. They are alright. I'm not sure about the 'nutrition module.' 

 

I think peanuts are amazing but different strokes for different folx.

 

I'm no amazing chef but my general approach is to take some fresh meat and/or vegetables, add a pinch of salt + pepper + garlic powder (if you're into that sort of thing) and throw that on/in a heat source, then remove and eat. Sometimes, depending on the heat source and the food, I might add a fat like butter or oil. It doesn't have to be any more complex than that. Usually you can google temperature and duration recommendations based on your cooking surface.

 

 There are all kinds of sauces and spices and things to add that make stuff more delicious, but trying to make them yourself makes cooking much more complicated in my opinion, and usually there are slightly less good but much lower effort versions at the grocery store. Think of the sorts of food you like to eat when you go out, and in your mind, break those foods down to their base components and see if you can reverse engineer something similar you can make at home. If it seems too complicated try removing some elements and trying a simpler version. I'm curious to see how this part of your challenge goes! If you have other questions about cooking/food prep I'm sure folks on here would be happy to help.

[Scaly Freak]

2 hours ago, Deckard Gainz said:

 

 There are all kinds of sauces and spices and things to add that make stuff more delicious, but trying to make them yourself makes cooking much more complicated in my opinion, and usually there are slightly less good but much lower effort versions at the grocery store.

 

The grocery store versions can be spruced up by adding little bits of spice or seasoning as the mood strikes.

[JessFit]

Welcome new warrior friend!

[Devout_Haruhiist]

Thanks!!

[RedStone]

GREETINGS!

 

 

On 5/28/2019 at 9:47 PM, Devout_Haruhiist said:

I have also 0 (and I mean 0) experience preparing food. My family never really cooked except on holidays so I don't have that tradition to come from, we just always went out. Any tips on where to start would be good

 

Excellent suggestions all around and I'll add one more - if it's a possibility where you are and for your lifestyle, I recommend meal prep services that sends you boxes of ingredients and recipe cards. They make the process very simple and easy to follow, and by following along you learn cooking techniques and gain confidence that you can apply to different meals in the future - or the same recipes if you like them. I have a stack of recipe cards from HelloFresh that I've gone back to many times, (they include a shopping list too) and there are many allergy friendly services available.

 

On 5/28/2019 at 12:24 AM, Blocky said:

Even with my most ADHD clients that want new workouts constantly, I still rotate benchmarks in to track progress. It's not hard to do.

 

100%. If it's not part of your routine already, it's more than reasonable to request - a clear and concrete way to measure your progress.

[miss_marissa]

On 5/28/2019 at 8:07 AM, Deckard Gainz said:

 

Drink milk. Eat nuts, and nut butters. Add a chicken breast to whatever meals you can. Date a chef. Do you do any cooking yourself now? What kinds of stuff do you like when you do eat? Diet is far more important than exercise for changing body composition. Figuring this out should be your first priority.

I'd like to say that YES diet is more important if body composition is your goal  But it looks like it may be strength, in which case it is equally as important, but I just don't want to box anyone in.

 

On 5/28/2019 at 8:47 PM, Devout_Haruhiist said:

Hey Deckard! Thanks for the advice and nice name, haha.

 

Diet, I agree, is the most important and also most difficult. I am allergic to (tree) nuts and get sick of peanut stuff very quickly. I have also 0 (and I mean 0) experience preparing food. My family never really cooked except on holidays so I don't have that tradition to come from, we just always went out. Any tips on where to start would be good (is the Nerd Fitness "nutrition module" helpful in this regard?)! I think it would take me awhile to adjust to eating food I prepared though.

 

I have never been a good goal setter so that is on me, certainly. I don't really have any specific goals for lifts, I guess I don't know what is realistic.

 

On 6/1/2019 at 7:47 AM, RedStone said:

Excellent suggestions all around and I'll add one more - if it's a possibility where you are and for your lifestyle, I recommend meal prep services that sends you boxes of ingredients and recipe cards. They make the process very simple and easy to follow, and by following along you learn cooking techniques and gain confidence that you can apply to different meals in the future - or the same recipes if you like them. I have a stack of recipe cards from HelloFresh that I've gone back to many times, (they include a shopping list too) and there are many allergy friendly services available.

^^came here to say this too! One thing that greatly improved my kitchen skills was a Blue Apron subscription. Most of these services are similar and a lot of them have video tutorials too for things like knife skills or other more challenging kitchen skills. They come with the recipe cards and all ingredients. I have even seen HomeChef brand in the grocery store too (Pick N Save / Kroger) which would be an easy point of entry for you to pick up 1 meal at a time instead of a whole subscription box. 

 

Welcome to the Warriors @Devout_Haruhiist ! We are happy to have you along on your journey  Tell us more about yourself

[Devout_Haruhiist]

Thanks! All this tips are great and it sounds like a good direction for my research.

 

More about myself, hmm, well aside from all the fitness stuff I mentioned I guess I am a pretty traditional nerd: watched tons of anime, run board game nights, play Magic, play just about every genre of video games. Outside of that I like to read and learn. I recently started working on all kinds of areas of self-improvement, fitness being one but things like trying dating being another. I also have 2 guinea pigs that I adore terribly.

[Devout_Haruhiist]

Quick update on my challenge. The only one going pretty well is #1. I feel like I have been doing pretty decently in most of my workouts and getting over some of those mental barriers. Eating is still basically terrible. Finances are even worse (in fact I just posted a thread about it on that subforum) and leading me to occasionally panic.

[Deckard Gainz]

On 6/3/2019 at 6:37 PM, Devout_Haruhiist said:

I recently started working on all kinds of areas of self-improvement, fitness being one but things like trying dating being another.

 

The self-improvement ride is a wild one with a lot more ups and downs than the complacent life, but it can be exciting if nothing else. And if you're willing to put some mental energy into it at least some of the time, the general trend can continue to move towards improvement over time. I'm glad to see #1 is going well! Getting into one good routine can help you get into others, and for a lot of folks, myself included, using something mentally "easier" like physical exercise is a great first step towards improving other areas of life. I'll check out your other thread too. Also, nice job posting an update!