Fitness and Nutrition VIII

[BehindTheTimes]

I'm in a similar boat, only recently able to really start activity again following surgery. It was all internal **** for me with my nerves and it affects my breathing and a bunch of other stuff so while my body is theoretically able to adapt to this over time, it's important that I go slow even if I know I am capable of more.

It sucks, I am not a patient person. But injuries can set you back even longer so no point in rushing things.

Yesterday I was looking at some old backups and found a picture of me from before all this stuff started when I was working out regularly. That sucked, I was way more muscular and looked pretty good. And now after 4 months of work I am not even close to looking how I did just 3 years ago. It really sucks.

The good news is nothing is forever. I was in a similar boat, got really out of shape, gained a ton of weight, went through some serious bouts of depression and felt terrible overall. One day I said enough is enough, I can sit around feeling sorry for myself or I can try to do something about it. Consistency is key, no need to rush things, slow an steady wins the race. Goodluck to you.

Use those old pics as motivation to get you to where you want to be, you'll have success, I have no doubts.

 

[waffledave]

I have purchased an elliptical from Revalue Fitness to have in my home. I discuss my reasoning below.

1) They were affordable and seen to have good reviews online.

2) A lot of internet gym Bros says that going to the gym is easy, "I don't want to hear that you don't have time, if it's a priority, you make time, it only takes 45 minutes three times a week." That is a load of ****. Time is limited, it is the most valuable commodity, further, just going to and from the gym, changing twice, etc takes 45 minutes or more, not including the actual workout.

A lot of those gym Bros have more time, as talking with their shirts off is their primary career.

3) In the past, I have had my best success when I had gyms very close and walking distance to my apartment, and could thus walk there in the morning before breakfast. This saves time, as the transit time was shorter, and I didn't need the extra shower and changing cycle. So now I'll he able to work out immediately after waking up, before breakfast. This will be more efficient.

4) Watching Netflix or other things while ellipticing might be fun.

5) Now that I'll have a cardio machine at home, it will liberate my gym trips for weightlifting, HIIT, and yoga.

6) A home gym is expensive, but heart disease, Alzheimer's, or cancer would be a lot more expensive.

7) I hope to have better will power with respect to food by exercising more often.

This is the reason I went out a built a home gym. It cost me less than $2k and honestly I would just not be able to maintain any form of regular activity otherwise. A gym membership would be way less but I don't care, I can afford this easily.

Between my warmups, stretching, rest between sets, etc... my workout is about an hour or so, sometimes more if I am really wiped. I just do not have time to tack on travel, showering, waiting for weights/machines to be free, etc... As it is, I barely have time to squeeze in a workout.

I have a newborn, my wife is home all day with the kid so I need to rush home from work so that I can take over for her and give her an hour of time to herself so she can take a shower, relax, etc... There is no downtime with a baby, we get maybe 45 mins of time where she will sleep between feedings. The whole "bedtime routine" starts at 9:45 and by the time you do the bath, feeding, etc... it is almost 11 and then you need to soothe the baby to sleep which can take another hour. Then she wakes up 3 hours later. It just doesn't end, there is no time to go to the gym.

At home, I can stick her in a chair and bring her to the basement with me. I can soothe her between sets. It's way more doable and my wife can get a break too. It's great that some people can find the time to go to the gym a few hours a day and take their time. But when you have a spouse, a family, a full time job, it just isn't feasible anymore.

 

[Hector Salamanca]

I'm in a similar boat, only recently able to really start activity again following surgery. It was all internal **** for me with my nerves and it affects my breathing and a bunch of other stuff so while my body is theoretically able to adapt to this over time, it's important that I go slow even if I know I am capable of more.

It sucks, I am not a patient person. But injuries can set you back even longer so no point in rushing things.

Yesterday I was looking at some old backups and found a picture of me from before all this stuff started when I was working out regularly. That sucked, I was way more muscular and looked pretty good. And now after 4 months of work I am not even close to looking how I did just 3 years ago. It really sucks.

i have a desmoid tumor, very infortunate stuff, one person in a million have that, so it take years to doctor to guess it right. and cause im lucky as hell, its on my pinch nerve, so they cant remove it.

i use to be in very good shape for my size, was 23-24 5p8 155lb-160 and at some point i was benching 275 lol and was 2-3 inch away from dunking (vertical jump of 37-38), but yeh now 135 3x8 sound hard as hell. but i remember last year, i wasnt have to do more than 2 pull up when i did start bodyweight training. i can do 20 now, so with consistency and will power, everything is possible.

the hardest part is ladyz use to hit on me alot, didnt happen once since.

 

[Kriss E]

I agree about the limited willpower part. We have a finite amount, and if there's too much pressure we fail in some areas. For myself, that means indulging in comfort food, for others that might mean alcohol, gambling, video games, drugs, etc. Empirically, I am more successful at fasting when I have fewer external pressures.

Will power is also a "muscle" that can be increased to an extent, in my opinion. As an example, I said that I eat better when exercising. I assume that this is because the exercise is good for my brain and thus my mood. I admittedly do not have proof.

Most of my travel is for work, which means networking over lunch and dinner. If someone from Tsinghua or Oxford asks me out for lunch, I am not going to tell him that I'd rather skip lunch to drink a protein shake.

International travel also disrupts the circadian rhythm, which also affects will power.

All of these things have been proven to be addictive and addiction is now considered a brain disorder or disease. It's no longer considered a moral failure.
So..does that mean everyone who's addicted to some of these things, including comfort food, have less or weak willpower? But then, one can have terrible late night eating habits but still have the willpower to study or play an instrument or read or develop whatever other part of themselves. So what gives?
Those that mean if they don't read that one night...they suddenly won't binge eat anymore?
I don't buy that.

 

[Hector Salamanca]

btw DA just curious, do you have any good program/video for yoga, im looking foward to do some.

 

[Kriss E]

i have a desmoid tumor, very infortunate stuff, one person in a million have that, so it take years to doctor to guess it right. and cause im lucky as hell, its on my pinch nerve, so they cant remove it.

i use to be in very good shape for my size, was 23-24 5p8 155lb-160 and at some point i was benching 275 lol and was 2-3 inch away from dunking (vertical jump of 37-38), but yeh now 135 3x8 sound hard as hell. but i remember last year, i wasnt have to do more than 2 pull up when i did start bodyweight training. i can do 20 now, so with consistency and will power, everything is possible.

the hardest part is ladyz use to hit on me alot, didnt happen once since.

How are you treating the tumor?

 

[Hector Salamanca]

How are you treating the tumor?

tamoxifen/sundac/prabagalin daily.

 

[Kriss E]

tamoxifen/sundac/prabagalin daily.

Will that kill it?

 

[Mrb1p]

btw DA just curious, do you have any good program/video for yoga, im looking foward to do some.

Hey, I started yoga watching youtube videos. Its a great way to start, pop that on your TV and follow along.

Plus, she's total eye candy and I basically fell in love with her just by watching her vids.

I recommend her Yoga camps to start ! She has three series of 30 days of yoga, they usually start easier and go on to harder. If you take a 20-30 minutes everyday (I love doing it at night, but morning works too.) to do it, with consistency, you'll have great success.



And I know that the breathing, relaxion, etc might look silly at first, but trust it. Go with it, it makes a huge difference.

 

[Mrb1p]

Also, I came here to rant.

I just hate people in the fitness industry who use hot takes to generate buzz around them.

There's this physical therapist on IG that just shared an imagine of a foam roller saying it's useless and that you're dumb for doing it and you look like a dumbass, and the works. He shared a study (Meta study) with it, in which he quotes something like "It has marginal effects." but if you read the studies, its clear they have found effects, he just either did not read them, or he chose to purposely ignore them. As someone with somewhat of an "autorithy" on the subject he should show a much better standard of profesionalism.

And then he shares a pyramid. With massage under (meaning of better importance.) the other category ? "Gimmicks" and he lists foam rolling and myofascial release. Does he realize it's very close to being the same thing ?

 

[DAChampion]

the hardest part is ladyz use to hit on me alot, didnt happen once since.

D00d, women don't care about your physique, as long as you're confident, well groomed, and you dress well, everything will be great ;-)

All of these things have been proven to be addictive and addiction is now considered a brain disorder or disease. It's no longer considered a moral failure.
So..does that mean everyone who's addicted to some of these things, including comfort food, have less or weak willpower? But then, one can have terrible late night eating habits but still have the willpower to study or play an instrument or read or develop whatever other part of themselves. So what gives?
Those that mean if they don't read that one night...they suddenly won't binge eat anymore?
I don't buy that.

I use the terms willpower and related very casually, I don't actually believe in free will, people do what they do and they respond to incentives and environment.

Comfort food can also be addictive, sugar does stimulate dopamine, and in any case the psychology and physiology of addiction are not fully understood. It's a term fitting the primitive status of 21st century psychology.

@Ozymandias is the resident neuroscience expert.

btw DA just curious, do you have any good program/video for yoga, im looking foward to do some.

@Mrb1p gave good advice, alternatively, you can go to a studio for a few months to learn the moves, then do them from home. The Ashtanga primary series is a standard sequence.

 

[Hector Salamanca]

Will that kill it?

study have show it work in 86% of people, and it been working but we are A LONG WAY from making it operable. the mass in 8''-2''-4'', so it pretty huge.

it a very long term threatment, been a year already probably at leaast 3-4-5 more years to go.

 

[Hector Salamanca]

D00d, women don't care about your physique, as long as you're confident, well groomed, and you dress well, everything will be great ;-)


never been confident so it kinda hard when you are injured and save/invest 99% of your money. I hate to be in public place cause of the fear of the pain and being a burden to the people im with. make me so stress that i dont enjoy the time, ik it sound weird but it been like that for a while, social anxiety is thru the roof.

do you have any suggestions for clothes brand or store, havent shop in forever.

 

[Mrb1p]

Who cares about clothes, its all in the attitude

I make girls go giddy and I havent shopped in three years

 

[Sorinth]

I dont buy that willpower theory. You need discipline. It's more about breaking habits and cravings.

Like I said I don't fully buy it either but there probably is some truth to it as it's probably a form of decision fatigue. And for sure breaking bad habits/creating good ones should be the goal since once it becomes a habit you don't need all that much willpower to keep them going.

In regards to cravings, I read about a guy who simply planned all his cravings for his weekly cheat day. So whenever he had a craving, he would write it down, and then on his cheat day he would go out and binge on everything he had craved during the week. The theory was the cravings were easier to deal with since you were only delaying them rather then denying them. Not sure how healthy having a binge day like he described really is though.

 

[DAChampion]

I was actually being sarcastic. I am certain that women care a lot about men's physiques lol.

I no longer live in Montreal. When I lived there, I liked to buy Men's clothing at Ralph's in the Cavendish mall. He gets a lot of Lacoste products -> buy the other things.

In the USA, I like Nordstrom Rack and Saks off Fifth.

 

[DAChampion]

I'm about to watch Avengers 4, I'll need a strong enough bladder to hold it in for four hours, but it's probably too late for kegel exercises.

ETA I ended up in the ER, my bladder erupted at the part where Thanos killed Flash.

 

[Hector Salamanca]

Hey, I started yoga watching youtube videos. Its a great way to start, pop that on your TV and follow along.

Plus, she's total eye candy and I basically fell in love with her just by watching her vids.

I recommend her Yoga camps to start ! She has three series of 30 days of yoga, they usually start easier and go on to harder. If you take a 20-30 minutes everyday (I love doing it at night, but morning works too.) to do it, with consistency, you'll have great success.



And I know that the breathing, relaxion, etc might look silly at first, but trust it. Go with it, it makes a huge difference.

ty and yeah plp still laugh at breathing, but meditation make wonder !

 

[Hector Salamanca]

just did day one of the meditation with adriene, since i have sprint uphill for the first time in years 2 days ago + done stretch and pull up this morning, it was hard. but a really like it.

 

[Kriss E]

I just tried the impossible burger. I agree, its impossible to replicate the taste of meat.
It wasnt bad but it wasnt particularly good either.

 

[MSLs absurd thighs]

We did a 2 inches Deficit Deadlift workout yesterday. Sometimes natural leverages and biomechanics are funny.

My friend, who I think can deadlift a good 10-20 pounds more than I do, did it with me... We did 3RMs, I went all the way up to 375 x 3, he got stuck at 345 x 2.

I read a bit online, and how on deficits, apparently, your quads do get involved more than on the usual deadlift, because you require more explosiveness from the ground to lift the bar up, since your feet are elevated. I just did a pretty intense 2 months of hypertrophy training, in which my legs workouts were definitely focused on the quads (Safety Bar Deadlifts, 50 reps sets on leg press, reverse close stance hack squats...). That might be how I got stronger off the ground. I just wonder how it'll translate on my regular deadlift, since 375 x 3 is actually my PR on the conventional deadlift .

We won't touch the deadlift for a couple of weeks, but I was pretty damn excited about it. I got into the training thinking 345 x 3 would be awesome. It went up like nothing was one the bar.

 

[Mrb1p]

We did a 2 inches Deficit Deadlift workout yesterday. Sometimes natural leverages and biomechanics are funny.

My friend, who I think can deadlift a good 10-20 pounds more than I do, did it with me... We did 3RMs, I went all the way up to 375 x 3, he got stuck at 345 x 2.

I read a bit online, and how on deficits, apparently, your quads do get involved more than on the usual deadlift, because you require more explosiveness from the ground to lift the bar up, since your feet are elevated. I just did a pretty intense 2 months of hypertrophy training, in which my legs workouts were definitely focused on the quads (Safety Bar Deadlifts, 50 reps sets on leg press, reverse close stance hack squats...). That might be how I got stronger off the ground. I just wonder how it'll translate on my regular deadlift, since 375 x 3 is actually my PR on the conventional deadlift .

We won't touch the deadlift for a couple of weeks, but I was pretty damn excited about it. I got into the training thinking 345 x 3 would be awesome. It went up like nothing was one the bar.

Quad strength is probably the most important thing to have for a strong deadlift. I shit you not, I was stuck at a plateau for a whole year, if not more on deadlifts, I decided Id focus on squats, because it was lacking behind by a good bit (Hence, weak quads.), so I did the full Smolov program. I didn't deadlift for 4 months because it was a squat only program (And didn't bench, yeah, that was dumb, I just now got back to my previous 1RM from before Smolov, a year ago.) and I decided I'd test my 1RM's to build myself a personalized program... I broke the deadlift plateau. Didn't just break it, actually. I obliterated it by 80 pounds.

 

[DAChampion]

Good news for once. I asked my physiotherapist about my knee, she said that it's probably fine and that the issue is likely just that I have asymmetric musculature in my right and left legs, I think specifically the quads.

 

[waffledave]

Good news for once. I asked my physiotherapist about my knee, she said that it's probably fine and that the issue is likely just that I have asymmetric musculature in my right and left legs, I think specifically the quads.

I always assumed my knees were bad. There's a problem that runs in my family, my mom had both her knees operated on about 20 years ago and now looks like she will need another surgery (mcl, acl, everything). Ditto with my sister, she had it done on one knee in her mid 20s and she's quite active, national level soccer player.

My knees have hurt me my entire life and it's something I basically just accepted and waited for when I'd need surgery too. It got so bad that eventually I stopped running completely, and I was running 15-20km per day and truly enjoyed it.

But my physio also thinks it was due to an imbalance in my musculature, mainly from underdeveloped glutes, and since making some major progress there I see a huge improvement with knee pain. It helped me so much, I used to wake up at night from the pain.

 

[covfefe]

Also, I came here to rant.

I just hate people in the fitness industry who use hot takes to generate buzz around them.

There's this physical therapist on IG that just shared an imagine of a foam roller saying it's useless and that you're dumb for doing it and you look like a dumbass, and the works. He shared a study (Meta study) with it, in which he quotes something like "It has marginal effects." but if you read the studies, its clear they have found effects, he just either did not read them, or he chose to purposely ignore them. As someone with somewhat of an "autorithy" on the subject he should show a much better standard of profesionalism.

And then he shares a pyramid. With massage under (meaning of better importance.) the other category ? "Gimmicks" and he lists foam rolling and myofascial release. Does he realize it's very close to being the same thing ?

I ski about ~100 days a year, generally ~60 of them in the backcountry. Do lots of intense trips and long days, no lifts/sleds/heli’s, so we definitely work for our turns. And without my foam roller set up(s), I would be toast. Makes a world of difference in terms of relieving tension and setting myself up for success for the following day(s).

Is it possible that I’m causing damage? Of course it is. Does it make me feel way better when I am super stiff, tight, sore, etc? You bet, so, really...f*** that snake oil salesman. So many days have been saved/aided/abetted/improved with an easy 10-20 mins of rolling things out. That’s my experience at least. And almost every ski partner/hardcore ski tourer I know feels the same way, as well.