The only supps I take are the basic, tested stuff like creatine, whey protein and sometimes fish oil. Never took cocktails or pre-made “stacks” with brand names. They all sound too iffy. Haven’t heard of maca powder before. I should check if it’s available here
I did notice some performance increase with creatine, but I didn’t really push myself too much (kind of a problem for me. I workout without a spotter and I’m very cautious to not injure myself) so I may have attributed it to a standard strength increase.
I was doing intermittent fasting. Kept going for about 5 weeks and also got pretty great results. I broke it, ironically, the week of last year’s SBCon and didn’t really continue after that. Recent posts got me thinking about starting IF again though.
One of my struggles is getting enough protein, hence taking whey shakes. Even then, I’m not disciplined enough to take them every day, so I fall below my target often…
Which leads me to the recommended “target” macros. I’ve checked several online calculators and I get wildly different results for bulking, from 130g/day to over 200g/day. I take care to eat about 30g protein per meal which, if I’m cooking is pretty easy to do, but that’s still over 4 meals a day to get to the most conservative figure of 130g…
Yeah, eating proteins for bulking sucks. Sadly, we have to do it. I read that this thing about the body only being able to use 25-30 grams of protein at once is bunk. So then I just had 50g or so at a time. That helped. But it’s still boring to eat all that tuna and chicken.
With creatine you have to know after how many days the effect will start and after how many days it will fade. Once it kicks in I think you will see a marked difference. But yeah probably not if you’re not pushing really hard. Or maybe creatine doesn’t have that much of an effect on you. “Everybody is different” and so on
Also I think the overall caloric surplus is more important than hitting the protein goal. If you have all the protein but no caloric surplus basically nothing is going to happen. But if it’s the other way around you’ll at least make some progress.
Yes, but I’m trying to bulk more cleanly this time. I don’t want to increase overall fat significantly if I can avoid it.
With creatine I did a week-long load, during which I had some digestive discomfort, but after that period I just kept taking it steadily and it has gone well.
Anyway, I asked an acquaintance and they told me that 130g should be enough for bulking for me (I weigh 76kg currently). That’s kind of a relief so what I’ll try to do is be a buit more disciplined with my protein intake and try to hit that every day, I guess…
To help hit your protein goals, start batch cooking. Boil a dozen eggs at a time. Then you can pop two or three eggs a couple times a day.
Eat cheese. I usually get Swiss cheese, because the bacteria used to make it, produces vitamin B12. So Swiss cheese is rich in B12, like pork/beef/turkey is.
Get a value pack of pork and bake it all at once in a large cake pan or roasting pan.
Get some plain Greek yogurt. Fayeh brand is available with whole fat and 2%. If you buy the large tub, the cost per serving is pretty low, comparable to the cost per scoop of whey. But Greek yogurt is a whole food and has probiotics in it.
This is the brand of Maca I like. Their stuff always smells and tastes right, fresh. And long term, I feel that it works for me. Not necessarily the case with other brands. I just buy it on Amazon.
Also, make sure to get raw Maca. Gelatanized Maca is heated and pressure cooked. The heat destroys most of the natural flavonoids and sterols which give Maca is many benefits. Gelatanized is still nutritious, as a good source of several nutrients. But I think if you are gonna buy Maca, you should go for the raw stuff.
*p.s. There is nothing “gelatin” about gelatanized Maca. I dunno why they call it that.
I appreciate much of what you write here, but this bit here stands out as inaccurate. Being somewhat tied to a medical profession I see people sometimes stumble into the trap of “the internal chemical response is X, hence everyone will respond in Y fashion”, a notion pretty much disproved the second anyone spends some time with actual people. I can say for a fact that many people find exercising to be miserable both during and after regardless of whatever chemical response the body crafts in response, and that can lead to them being miserable beforehand at even the possibility of it.
These people need something to push them into doing this as the activity itself will not. Some people will do it out of fear of medical consequences they are staring at (doc told my dad he was pre-diabetic 3 or 4 months back, he’s now down nearly 30 pounds and walks 7+ miles each day). Some will endure it out of hope that it will pay off in some desired fashion. And yes, some will bribe themselves in various ways. I agree that this will often produce… conflicting if not outright counter-productive results if done poorly.
Still, if the only way to get someone to do something they need to do is to let them do something they also want to do, while not ideal if it is balanced out that there is a net benefit (and this is key and easily screwed up) then I can live with the spoonful of sugar that gets the medicine down. It ain’t ideal but many things in life aren’t, and if you are one who is blessed to be rewarded with a positive feeling for doing activities like this then appreciate said blessing as not everyone is so fortunate.
In an effort to take more control of my body I took some yoga classes but had to quit due to time, money and travel time adding up to me stressing about it. Looking for a good 30 minute routine to do at home to do when I wake up and before bed. Mostly looking to improve back and neck strength to help my posture since I don’t have a very active job during the day.
Just go on Amazon and look for a DVD that’s highly rated. We have like a 10 year old one from MTV or something that worked well for us. There’s no reason to take a class to do yoga. They only reason to go somewhere else to exercise is to access equipment.
it’s worth going to yoga class to see if you are even remotely doing things right and for a hot room if that’s your thing, but it is ludicrously expensive long term. there’s a lot a lot on youtube.
I can’t decide whether to get another kettlebell >35lbs. because that’s starting to be slightly silly and I’d have to start replacing too much of my wardrobe but I’ve pretty much maxed out what I can do in my apartment otherwise
Classes also function as a social event for me as an introvert that ignored any opportunity all through college to network and meet new people. It got me out of the house and seeing new faces.
I’m thinking about getting back to the gym. I think I’m ready. Spent Sunday going to different gyms and checking out what they got going on. I found one I liked. Didn’t sign up yet because I don’t have any money right now.
My first goal should be weight loss. What I see recommended for that in terms of exercise is a five day plan. 3 weight and 2 cardio workouts. This might seem like an extreme start. I think it’s very doable though if you just start out with very low intensity. The first few weeks should just be about getting into the swing of things.
For cardio I’ll just do 30 minutes on the elliptical machine and be done with it. No HIIT, though that will come later. I don’t want to stress out my heart right away!
For weights I’m thinking about HST, Hypertrophy-Specific Training, even though the goal is weight loss. Eventually I want to build muscle mass and I think it’s a good idea to get used to that kind of workout again beforehand. The thing about HST is that you do big compound exercises and only 2 sets of each exercise. Weeks 1-2 you do 15 reps, 3-4 10 reps and then up to week 8 you do 5 reps per set. Then you take a break for 2 weeks and then start the cycle over again.
I’ll change my diet with the goal of cooking a lot. I want to get 3 meals a day. Vegetables with every meal. Maybe something like bacon and eggs, then a chicken dish, and something with fish as the last meal. Not that the order is important. Get couscous, rice and quinoa with that. Just a lot of unprocessed food, back to basics.
I’ll still do intermittent fasting. I’ll just time it so that I work out in the afternoon and finish by 4 pm, so I can eat right after. I’ll do the workouts fasted. From experience I know that that’s not a problem for me.
For supplements I’m only planning on creatine, and a protein shake after workouts.
If I get my money situation in order I could imagine starting next month! Kinda anxious about this because I don’t want to sign up for a membership and then not go at all. I think I just need to trust myself on this one…
Ever since quitting bartending and making The Moon Fields full time my physical health has been pretty bogus. I’ve been keeping track of my fitness via a google spreadsheet all year, and I’m doing a lot better. Lots of weird apps and tricks that have had varying levels of effectiveness/stickiness (for me). I think I’m finally on track to getting healthy again, but let’s do a quick recap for each of the things
Tracking Home Workouts Via Google Sheets
This has mixed success. My pushups/day record is creeping up to really respectable numbers (I might hit 80/day this month! Probably 70, but still… looking good!). The other numbers aren’t doing so hot. I just don’t track other workouts. I know situps and squats should be here, but I just can’t get myself to do one situp that looks good, let alone 30/day. Squats? I think I will try to put these numbers up again. I just keep forgetting.
Some Android Plank App
This worked for a while. It actually got decently hard even on beginner! I just gave up on it in favor of
Nike Training Club Android
This one kinda rules? I mirror this to my chromecast and I have a customized workout video everyday. It doesn’t get boring, and I can pick the level and intensity I want. They’ll list if I need equipment (I have adjustable weights), and it’s like 15 minutes of no bullshit workout. If it weren’t for the name I wouldn’t even know it was by Nike. I wonder where the pay wall will be? IDK
Tennis/Sports
I still have a problem playing a sport for more than 5 minutes at a time. This fucking sucks. I know that even when I was in shape I wasn’t doing much HIIT stuff - that was earlier in college when I would play basketball regularly - but still… it’s demoralizing. I think I’ll keep at it because I’m doing better than last year, but we’ll see. I’m hoping to get in a Volleyball league locally, but I gotta message some folks I know to see if I can get on a team.
I’ve dabbled in workout apps as well for a short while when I tried working out at home. It’s kinda weird to tap your phone with your nose when you’re doing push ups but that’s what I did. I just couldn’t do home workouts consistently, I need to go to the gym. So props to you for sticking with that!
And speaking of that, I did it. I signed up for the gym the day before yesterday and did my first workout. Actually it wasn’t a workout, I just determined my 15 rep max for some of the exercises I’m going to be doing. I felt a bit sick afterwards, which is a sign that I pushed myself. But I didn’t do much! Spent almost the whole day yesterday with sleeping because I was so fucked up from that. I really, really can’t handle much exercise anymore! It’s gonna be a long way back to the top
Today I’ll do cardio. That’s going to be fine I guess.
I wonder if I’ll even get through the weight training tomorrow though. It’s going to be a challenge!
I didn’t get through the weight training. I managed to do 5 out of 12 exercises lol
I mean I could have done all 12 but then I’d have spent two and a half hours in the gym instead of one and that’s just way too excessive. I need a lot of breaks because I’m decidedly unfit right now. It doesn’t matter, I’ll grow into it in time. I still got a whole body workout out of it and I’m pretty sore. Not too sore to work out again though, so that’s great.
The cardio on the elliptical machine is super easy and fun right now.
I also changed my diet and am cooking fresh and tasty every day. I’m very sure I’ll lose weight quickly. Because I’m going from sedentary to walking to and back from the gym for 50 minutes 5 days a week and of course working out 5 days a week. That combined with the lower caloric food is going to do the trick nicely.
Haha that post somehow made me push harder and so now - update live from the gym: 8 exercises in 1 hour. Getting better!
The difference was I hauled more ass loading and unloading the plates, only took a break after 5 exercises instead of after every 2 and just took shorter rest between sets.
The thing about me is that I was never especially strong, I just had good endurance. When I was 10 or 12 years old I managed to run for 2 hours without stopping. That was a special challenge during phys ed - run for a long as you can and if you quit you can fuck off and do whatever you like. Most people quit after a short while, because obviously that’s what you do. I just kept Gumpin’. That’s when I knew I can tough out a lot of stuff if I just challenge myself to it. So yeah, I’ve done two hours in the gym. Four, even. That was my max.
I did some exercises in front of the mirror and I feel like I’m still looking pretty damn good. It’s just my huge gut that’s messing everything up. But the muscle mass is still there. I like myself.
