.... Go!

(🫩or should I just start drinking cooking oil at this point? 🫩)

Edit: sorry , forgot to add that I cant eat any nuts or seeds

I've tried tracking what I eat maybe a dozen times and always quit within a week. The thing that changed it wasn't motivation, it was cutting the friction. A few habits that worked for me, in case they help anyone else:

• Take a photo of the plate before you start eating, even if you log it later. Memory is terrible by the evening.
• Rough is fine. A "close enough" entry every day beats a perfect entry twice a week.
• The usual suspects for underestimating are oils, sauces, dressings and drinks. Those are the ones worth weighing or measuring once in a while.
• Log protein first if that's your main goal, and don't stress over the rest of the numbers on a busy day.
• Batch-cooked meals: log the recipe once and reuse it instead of re-entering ingredients.

Disclosure: I'm an indie developer and I turned the photo habit into an iPhone app called Mealumo. You snap the meal, it estimates calories and macros, and you correct anything before saving. Mixed dishes and sauces still trip it up, so everything stays editable. It's in English only, needs iOS 26, and has a free tier plus an optional subscription. Happy to give a PRO code to anyone here who wants to try it and tell me what's wrong with it: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6811904664

Mostly though, I'm curious what made logging stick (or not) for you. If this kind of post isn't welcome here, mods, feel free to remove it.

I hurt my feet and did go to the doc but now it could be that i am bound to bed for some time until some checkups are done and no exercise at all is suboptimal.
So what im asking for are exercises that have at best no pressure on the feet.

Preferably decentralized and foss

Example of a workout format:

Ever since my diet began a couple months ago, my strength has dropped approximately 5% to 10% on all my lifts. My motivation has also tanked by a good 60% from being in a 500 calorie per day deficit compared to surplus pretty much all year. Last weekend at the gym, I was doing Incline Bench Press and I always monitor my gym notes for every lift. I look both at the recent trends (the past 2-3 performances of that lift) as well as all-time-highs.

My 1RM is 185lbs (84kg) and my 10RM is a tiny bit more than 135lbs (61kg), both occurring about 3 months ago. But for the last couple months, this particular lift has dropped the most and even getting 4 reps is the least I can always count on, and the reps are always "grindy" which I always chalked up to it being a heavier lift, that the 60% drop in motivation would therefore affect it more than a lighter weight exercise such as Lateral Raises or Forearm Curls. Then last weekend out of nowhere, I had an "outlier" set on my 2nd set of Incline Bench Press where the weight felt extremely easy, when doing 135lbs. I was able to get 8 smooth, clean reps with at least 3RIR which I immediately noted as paradoxical and set 3 reminders on my phone to investigate further. (I have learned that if I don't note the paradox at the gym immediately when it happens, my brain will tell me the next day I must have loaded the barbell wrong or counted the reps incorrectly or some other cognitive process where a person makes up a logical-sounding reason to justify or dismiss a decision, behavior, or observation after they have already decided or observed something) My favorite Veritasium youtube video of all time calls this phenomenon "cognitive ease" whereby our brains are lazy by default and our brain would rather preserve our preexisting narrative of reality and dismiss outliers or contradictory facts than to have to change our narrative of reality by even a tiny fraction of 1%.

So the next day, 3 alarms spaced a few hours apart (in case I ignored the first 2) forced me to re-acknowledge and re-accept what had happened and I began investigating it through a different lens. I reframed my question as follows:

• Given the fact that it absolutely 100% happened, what are the top 3 explanations which make the most sense?

Obviously anyone with more than a year or two of weightlifting experience knows that beginners do exercises incorrectly and (spoilers, obviously) that is exactly what happened. Earlier this year when I was "climbing through the beginner ranks" and swiftly moving up on all my lifts as per "beginner gains" entitles me to, I would actually bring a youtube playlist that had 3 different videos for every planned exercise at the gym. I would search (at home) how to for example and I would watch it before and immediately after my first working set, for ALL my exercises. So when I went to the gym yesterday, I had watched close to 20 videos on form cues with Scott Herman's videos being the most helpful:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbFgADa2PL8
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrqOu55lrYU

Another thing I did before the gym yesterday was I practiced several times throughout the morning a relatively unfamiliar form cue (called "packing your shoulders") which itself is a combo of 2 form cues:

• Pull your shoulder blades down → scapular depression (towards your pelvis)
• Pull your shoulder blades back/together → scapular retraction (toward your spine)

So basically yesterday, I learned that somehow if you use 1 new form cue that "absorbs" 2 different form cues, your mind somehow makes it easier and compiles all that information into a single concept. In other words, remembering to do 2 separate form cues is infinitely harder (for a beginner at least) than to merge the 2 separate form cues into a single composite form cue, and focus on doing that new composite form cue instead. Somehow it is indeed possible to trick your brain into thinking 1 + 1 = 1.

Am I the only person fascinated by form cues and believe they make no sense from a purely theoretical perspective? I am very appreciative that there are dozens/hundreds of knowledgeable youtubers with great advice that I personally would automatically dismiss if I heard it from a personal trainer or from a gym-bro because my worldview automatically dismisses things which sound illogical. Have the other intermediate or advanced lifters go through the same discovery process as me after leaving the beginner phase of weightlifting? Or am I just over-thinking form cues and that they're really not all that interesting as a concept?

Terms/definitions for beginners/lurkers:

6RM for a given exercise/weight combination, you can only perform 6 reps, even if a millionaire offered you a briefcase full of gold bars to hit that 7th rep.

2RIR means 2 "reps in reserve" which means you finish a set 2 reps prior to failure. For example you stop at 8 reps, but you could have gotten 10.

By default, I workout in the mornings about 2-3 hours after waking up. This weird paradox I've been experiencing at the gym all year on my intentionally-light training sessions (i.e. when I want to preserve maximum mental bandwidth for a cognitively demanding task later that day or the next day) is similar in spirit to the following empirical paradox:

• Parkinson's Law states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion

It's like my brain down-regulates my ability to summon maximum strength output, which means if I want to leave 2 reps in reserve, I now must subtract 2 reps from the 4RM, which on paper makes it seem like I did 2 of my 6RM with 2RIR rather than 4RIR. It hurts my brain and makes zero sense from a logic/math perspective. I listen to tons of pop-science fitness podcasts, including Huberman. Seemingly, the key concept is intent/pacing and how your intent/pacing drives force production via a neurophysiological explanation that reads like technobabble nonsense when I asked chatGPT about it.

My first question is does this even happen to other people? Or am I just the unlucky one?

My second question is how to fix this problem? Are there any "mental form cues" that can restore my true 6RM? I do everything the exact same way. My pre-gym routine is always the same. (pre-workout powder similar, loud music while driving to the gym, mentally pumping myself up, etc..)

In fact, on my own gym notes, I document whenever my numbers are low (such as a poor night's sleep or had to do my beekeeping in 95-degree summer heat earlier that day). So for my light sessions, I just lie about 2RIR in my workout log rather than blaming "magical, mysterious process which shrank my 6RM to 4RM today".

Update -- upon feeding this post into ai, I should make a possible correction. It's plausible that I could do 2 more reps on my "light days" but I'm in the same agony doing my 4th rep on a light day as my 6th rep on a normal day. So I guess what my question truly should ask is why does my brain dump loads of physical pain/agony into my consciousness on the 4th rep of my light days but waits until the 6th rep on my normal days? And more importantly -- how to fix this stupid agony-dumping mechanism? I hate the fact that on my light days, I walk out of the gym equally mentally exhausted as my normal days, even though I trained at much lower intensity & lower volume. I don't compensate by doing more sets or cutting my rest time between sets. I don't choose my light days because I'm feeling less capable. I choose my light days based on future cognitive tasks and sparing CNS fatigue.

Update2 -- I believe it is worth noting that I should actually record this phenomenon to test whether my claims and assumptions are actually true. I should compare my rep quality because knowingly doing fewer reps might make me perform the concentric phase more explosively, and with slower, perfectly controlled eccentric phase. This can only be done with recording myself on my phone's video camera, which I plan to do. I already have a dozen or so recordings of "normal days" performing the shoulder press, so I simply need to record my rep quality on a light day's workout.

I'm in my mid-40s and I do cardio 3x weekly, and during my sessions, it's basically HIIT training. I try to keep my HR above 150 during my sessions, but it peaks in the low 180s intermittently.

Is this okay? My doctor noted potential concerns with getting my HR up that high, but it could be fine, she wasn't sure. I don't get any dizziness or anything (generally that happens if I sustain a heart rate above 185 for a bit). I'm not staying at 180 bpm, that's just the peak, I'm targeting an average HR of around 150-155 for my workouts.

In a 60 minute workout, I'll probably spend 10-15 minutes with my HR between 166 and 182 range.

Not sure if I should scale it down a bit or take it easier, or if this is fine.

I'm thinking about getting a fitness tracker to use together with endurain. Garmin trackers apparently support automatic synchronization with endurain, but they are very expensive.

What fitness tracker do you use that supports simple data export in a common format?

I need an app.

Requirements:

1. Bodyweight Workouts

2. Offline

3. Should have animated guide

4. Should have sensible plans

5. Free or freemium app would be good

I found two apps:

1. Seven - 7 Minute Workout ( Perigee AB )

( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.perigee.android.seven )

1. Home Workout - No Equipment ( Leap Fitness Group )

( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=homeworkout.homeworkouts.noequipment )

Which app would you suggest? Your own suggestions are appreciated.

I'm want to gain weight btw

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/50916806

Relatively easy single!

I just want all of you to know that I've run a run a half marathon. Think I may even be obligated to do so. Was it also a trail one? Yes! Did I also not finish in the last 25%? Yeah!

Honourable mention to the guy in the rear finishing at about 4h30min. But he did it! Extra cheers to him!

I need a pull up station, NOT a pull up bar, because I plan on doing bodyweight dead lifts in the middle of summer AND winter and jungle gyms just dont cut it in the fall and winter obviously. Im only 5’9 and Im in toronto if that helps.

Any ideas please? Could I just go to like a landfill and pick up some discarded metal bars and like get them welded together? Or do I just buy one of those big coat racks and remove the wheels on the legs and weld on a steel platform for each of the legs??

Thanks to anyone who answers.

Edit: oh sorry forgot to add that I live in an apartment so I cant screew in anything cause its illegal . also those pull up bars that use thresholds to stay put are also not enough for me because I plan on doing some absolutely looney stuff on that pull up station lol.

and by Bodyweight Deadlifts I mean this: https://m.youtube.com/shorts/SjqhGRQcMJE

I also plan on doing this: https://m.youtube.com/shorts/EVCeuFlBRHc though I have no idea what the exercise is called but FlexyDave showed it to me and I fell inlove with it. And Ill even be swinging while Im upside down like that. AND Ill be doing abdominal curls or 'upside down sit-ups' (if thats what theyre called) as Im upside down like that.

And Muscle Ups.

Edit 2 : I think Ive found what I was looking for: https://www.baseblocks.com/products/the-big-bar-pro . Very simplistic . and it appears tk be able to handle a lot of horizontal and vertical load. Also Im surprised that 50 pounds of steel can carry about 700 pounds of load! ... Huh?!...How?! Edit 3: The reviews on the website say that the station kind of slips and slides if you try to put any horizontal forces UNLESS you hold it down with sand bags. But Im gonna put this thing in my room so sandbags are kind of out of the question.... So my search is still on.

Edit 4: Ive decided that above the bar exercises probably wouldnt be the best exercises to do in an apartment bedroom as I dont know how high or low the bar will be when I purchase the product in relation to the height of the apartment’s ceilings-to-floor measurements. Ill just save those for the jungle gyms when summer and late spring come around.

Male, 40, I have been lifting on & off for about 2 years, but lifting seriously for 7 months. I hit a Personal Best on incline bench press (185 lbs) yesterday and on my favorite lift (seated dumbbell shoulder press 65 lbs) last weekend. But earlier this year, the 60 pound dumbbells for seated shoulder press was my main goal and I made about 2 solid attempts every month, even when I was nowhere close to ready (and video recorded my attempts) which somehow contributed to a feeling of amplified hype evidenced by my spending of several hours writing shoulder press poetry in the style of this video.

When I succeeded on the 60s, it felt infinitely more satisfying and was the most meaningful strength achievement I've ever made (as a weak guy). Bench press nor incline bench press are among my top 20 favorite lifts so I can't say I'm excited to ever achiever 225 or 315. It might be a stretch but seated shoulder press with the 100 pound dumbbells would be awesome though, but no other number between 60 - 95 excites me or feels meaningful or fulfilling.

In fact, I still love knowing I can do the 60's and I find great joy every time I do that lift with that particular amount of weight. I even find great joy knowing that I'm likely strong enough to do that particular lift more than 50% of any given days of the month. This isn't a rant post, overall I'm still very, very, very satisfied with my daily gym habit and I still love all my favorite lifts. I'm just curious to know from more experienced lifters what climbing up the weights felt like for them? I'd love to hear other's perspectives so I can know whether to taper my expectations or try to re-shape my enjoyment of particular elements in the strength journey. 💪

TL;DR: Does hitting new 1-rep-maxes lose any fulfillment or meaningfulness if it's easily predicted by good training habits (sleep, diet, and hypertrophy stimulus) and feels more like "going through the motions" of deterministic inevitability?

(english is my second language)

I have multiple causes contributing to a terrible health/mind health. Found the cure in an unexpected way. Three months ago, I started walking 30mn ago just to move a bit. Decided to up the steps, and I went from 2k to 15/20k daily divided in two daily walks. Felt good immediatly (happy chemicals), persisted, now it feels even better and it lasts long. I used to suffer non stop mental & physical torture, these are all gone.

And thats just the tip of the iceberg. I also lost weight and I multiply new healthy habits, slowly but surely.

I used to rely on ADHD meds for peace of mind&body. In fact I was living for the meds and they were a lie, by that I mean 1/2 hours of feeling (too: mistakes) good followed by hours long anxiety comedown or repeated redoses.

Motion is lotion.

I've been sidelined for several weeks with back pain, first day testing the waters squatting again. Feels good!

This isn't my first time with back issues so goal is to focus on volume rather than max weight for awhile to reduce risk of aggravating whatevers going on.

I've just recently become more consistent in working out (from once ever few months to now at least once a week.) What are some tips to stay motivated and how do you stay consistent?

A lesson I learnt came from a fitness guy I watched. He said, missing out one day happens. Shit happens. Missing out 2 days is a choice.

I couldn't go out yesterday cause a storm came through. So I did 2 times what I normally do. I don't know if the effects will pan out, but at least I can say I did not slouch. I am ~3lbs away from my desired weight.

For context, I've been back at the gym now for about a year and I've taken nutrition and activity more seriously than ever before to challenge myself. Since after highschool I've always sat around 25-30% bodyfat (peaking a little higher) and I'm down to something around 15% now.

For the last about 7 lbs of this journey, I've had a lot more misses in the gym as far as did seta. Like last week I did for example 50 lbs for 8,8,7 then this week I had to drop down, since I could only do 5-6 at 50 lbs. It doesn't happen for every lift, but it's pretty consistently at least 1 lift per week. I know at some point, the game becomes just trying to preserve strength/muscle, but I figured that would be more of an issue if I get closer to 10% bf. Any tips or experience is greatly appreciated.