Here is the paywall-free version: https://archive.ph/fBFRe

A big insight I realized after posting today is how ubiquitous the 45lb plates are at gyms everywhere and that I carry them extremely frequently at my gym. I think that my brain is comparing everything to that standardized weight because even the 50's have a modicum of that fear/dread and it just so happens to be one size larger than the 45lb plates.

Tomorrow I will try to remind my brain that the 55lb dumbbells weigh significantly more than the 45lb plates and see if that "solves" the problem. For the past 2 years, I've plausibly been training my brain (incorrectly) that all the dumbbells weigh less than or equal to the 45lb plates. 🤦‍♂️

Great response, thank you. Here is my 26 month weight loss graph: https://i.imgur.com/QbOusoM.png

Basically I lost 100 pounds then regained 20 lbs during the last 5 months. I will try to research on how to reach 90% max glycogen levels but this looks promising:

• Aim for 5–10g of carbs per kg of bodyweight over the refeed window (36 hours prior to your 1-rep max attempt)

Cable Tricep Kickbacks

Thank you! I will try them tomorrow 💪

Do you workout every day? And do you do just strength or also cardio?

I go the gym daily unless I have a prevailing reason not to. I miss probably 2-3 days per month but. I aim to do zone-2 cardio for 30 minutes 4-5 times per week but lately have been only doing 2-3 times per week due to the hot weather. During the cold months, I'd walk 2 miles daily. But now I don't enjoy it due to the hot weather, hence I go less.

20g carbs per day while doing sports is very low. It is possible your glycogen stores are depleting and making it harder for your muscles to keep working throughout your workout. So maybe also increase carbs on the days around your workout.

This is what ai said also, so I mildly carb loaded last night and this morning with a medium sized red potato of 150g raw weight (about 25g of carbs per potato) and I meticulously counted 8 gummy worms about 20 minutes before my workout (another 25g of carbs). After all, how much glycogen should I need if I'm doing a 1-rep max and it's my very first exercise upon arrival at the gym after 5 minutes of stretches and easy warmup? Maybe having maximum glycogen gives you more strength than suboptimal glycogen? During the 1-rep max, your muscles use ATP because the muscle fibers (actin & myosin) cannot use glycogen nor glucose. They require mitochondria elsewhere to phosphorylate ADP into ATP iirc.

(ai caveat: For a lift lasting ~1–5 seconds, the dominant energy system is the ATP-phosphocreatine system. Stored phosphocreatine rapidly donates a phosphate to ADP to regenerate ATP throughout the lift)

Maintaining strength with such a large deficit will always be super difficult, and remember that also weight moves weight, so don’t compare your pbs in weight as you shed pounds but in percentage bodyweight. The first weeks will be the toughest as your body adapts. Good luck!

Thanks!

Hyper-awareness is a great way of describing it, thank you! This should help me search for it better if it's a common phenomenon.

test

(I am new to Lemmy)

How to deal with the excess skin?

Comparison is the thief of joy. Don't compare yourself to other people -- compare yourself to who you were back when you were 40kg heavier. I've also lost a massive amount of weight and have loose skin. Even though I have far more loose skin than you do, it truly doesn't bother me, unlike my thinning hairline which bothers me more than I care to admit... 😂

This is my first comment, hurray me! 😁

I'm very OCD and ritualistic at the gym. I do a thing with my fingers and a thing with my neck immediately before every hard lift, similar to that famous Australian olympics girl 12 years ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx0bi1CjGBY

Somehow it makes the weights feel lighter and makes my grip feel stronger without additional effort. Other people might think I'm crazy though but I'll keep doing what works for me... 😅

Well said. I only have 2 long-term goals with respect to the gym and 1 is functional strength and the other is maxing my seated dumbbell shoulder press 1 rep max -- hopefully either the 80's or 100's since it gives me something to work hard for and will keep me motivated to go to the gym daily for the next 5-10 years. My medium term goal is to be able to do 1 pullup or chin-up.

I log all my workouts and I'm extremely motivated by seeing my numbers (slowly) climb up. I'm already way stronger than I ever could have believed I would be (although still not very strong compared to most people who go to the gym regularly) but I'm in surreal territory and feel incredibly lucky to be strong for the first time my whole life. It's exhilarating and makes going to gym everyday more fun than a visiting a major theme park.

You're spot on about injuries -- I had low back pain for 5 years that has thankfully lessened by about 95% and I definitely don't want another injury. I'm going to try the high-rep thing for 3-4 months but if I don't enjoy it, I will just revert back to what I love (heavy triples) even if I don't gain much anymore since it's a better hobby than video games or Netflix. Plus, I think there's a great amount of pride just for showing up to the gym. The amount of mental toughness it takes just to show up is small, but less than half of men have it, probably less than 25%.