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 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.

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.

Background: Male, 40, lifting seriously for ~6 months. Before that, about 2 years of aimlessly familiarizing myself with the gym and overcoming the intimidation of simply being there. I mainly visited the gym for the treadmills and would wander around the weight room for 15-20 minutes afterward but could never get into a flow state until earlier this year when I finally noticed my first real strength gains in January.

My reason for posting today is because I recently watched a youtube video providing a summary of the Schoenfeld meta-analyses on volume/intensity and effective reps. What I don't get is the experience of it. When I'm grinding a heavy triple, there's this narrow window of total focus and there's zero ambiguity of when I can do 1 more rep (or 0 more reps) because I have tons of experience at low-rep sets at ~90% of my 1-rep-max.

If I'm being honest with myself, I kinda hate doing sets of anything higher than 5, even on my favorite exercises. One of the most helpful things I've ever read in my life online from a fitness discussion & comments section was when someone said they mentally reframe Romanian deadlifts as kettlebell swings and that instantly clicked for me and has made me so much stronger at that exercise, nearly overnight. It becoming my 2nd favorite exercise (after seated dumbbell shoulder presses as #1).

What I'm hoping for today is to hear from more experienced lifters who actually enjoy that rep range of 8-12 or 6-15. Instead, I find it confusing, unfamiliar, and mentally uncomfortable primarily for these 3 reasons:

• no matter where I stop barring absolute momentary muscular failure, I always finish the set feeling angst of not knowing truly how many RIR I still had left in me. Not knowing whether I had 2 vs 3, or 3 vs 4 RIR, it is totally a trivial and unimportant issue yet it drives me crazy for no good reason.
• for longer sets, it stops feeling like lifting and starts feeling like a chore I'm waiting to finish, similarly to if your dentist told you to wear 20-pound weighted gloves and to brush your teeth until your wrists hurt.
• the difficulty in finishing your final planned rep (when you plan to leave 1 or 2 RIR) for a working set of 8-12 reps has a different type of mental difficulty than the difficulty I'm familiar with at working sets in my 6-rep-max range. The final rep of a short sets gives me the feeling afterward of having accomplished something significant but the final rep of a long working set gives me the feeling afterward that I'm punishing myself (perhaps because my brain does not connect the effort to the reward yet).

This is not a rant however, I'm just trying to look for some ideas on positive re-framing. Especially as I have branched out into other exercises where doing shorter working sets of my 6-max range do not make sense due to form issues when using weights that are at too high percentage of your 1-rep max (such as lateral raises or French presses).

TL;DR: I need help understanding how to enjoy (or at least positively reframe) my lifting experiences at the gym from lifters who enjoy performing their working sets in the 6-15 or 8-12 rep range as someone who exclusively prefers heavy triples and heavy singles.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/72275768

I've been walking 4.5 miles a day, 5 days a week since Jan 2nd. As of today, I have lost ~53 pounds, gone from being pre-diabetic to normal levels, lost my entire wardrobe in the process, and finally my Vans died. They have been loyal a.f.

Glad they helped me on this journey to better health.

The bad part of walking/jogging in the cold is when it's over

Took a walk earlier today, when it must've been around 10ºC, and it came to mind, the cold can be comfortable as it helps controlling the body's heat. But also, when you're done and sit down, after some minutes you can feel the body cooling off in real time.

Still, despite this last part, it's an activity I'd totally recommend. ^_^

(Age 40, male, 260 pounds, lifting diligently for just under a year)

For background, here is my post 23 days ago where I struggled to find a single tricep exercise that successfully targeted my tricep muscles. Thankfully I got good answers and played around at ridiculously light weights at high volume focusing on form and "flexing" my tricep during every rep especially during lockout to help my brain learn how to recruit tricep motor units. As a result, the most successful tricep exercise that "works" for me and isn't constrained by my limitations is assisted dips while keeping the body upright.

This makes me feel very fortunate because many fitness youtubers (Jeff Nippard and 2-3 others) argue that dips are arguably the best single tricep exercise followed closely by overhead cable tricep extensions, which I still struggle with but is a top priority that I'm focusing on for the next 3-4 weeks incorporating into my push day. The only other tricep exercise I feel I'm able to perform correctly and with acceptable form and good tricep targeting is the Close-Grip (slightly Incline) Bench Press however I struggle immensely with my elbows wanting to flare out and I have difficulty keeping them tucked in, especially my ~5% weaker left side elbow which brings me to my next question.

##Question #2

If I can't do more than 6-7 good reps in clean form (with about 4-6 more in shoddy form) of the Close-Grip bench press, does this mean I need to lower the weight until I can do 12 reps in good form? Or does it mean I need to stop when my form gets bad after the 7th rep and compensate by doing more volume by doing more sets? My goal is functional tricep strength and/or hypertrophy but I would slightly prefer strength by a tiny margin. (as an aside, ai says 30-45 degree elbow flare is fine apparently?)

Primary question (in title): What does it mean if I can perform 25% more reps on my 2nd working set of tricep exercises than my 1st working set of the same weight? And does it mean I'm failing my warmup sets or something else? My typical warmup routine is 5 minutes on treadmill at 3mph or 4.8kmh, 2 minutes of "elbow circles" (due to some men having proclivity for elbow pain when working triceps), and 1 warmup set of 40% - 50% weight of my working set for about 10 reps.

A couple of months ago I switched to the big lifts: squats, deadlifts and bench presses (and OHPs, rows, and lat pull downs).

I am exhausted after the big three lifts. Breathing is the most difficult part when squatting. I am tired afterwards. How do you still find enough energy to do accessories?

I am also still learning the lifts. It's incredible how long it takes to master them.