Tips needed for how to motivate myself to keep lifting weights. Divorced, no family in country, single, mid-50s, celibate, non-dater, energy levels irregular. I also find that when I do lift, I'm exhausted for the next several days.
Lifter's Lounge
- Thread starter Hannibal
- Start date
If there is a root cause for your exhaustion (other than just going really hard), like an undiagnosed health problem, it would be worth investigating. Working out should be a net boost in mood and wellbeing and if it isn't, something is wrong and it's messing with your recovery.
However, most of my gym motivation is to get the feeling of being physically spent. The rest is a mix of doing lifts I actually enjoy doing (I hate flat bench, so I go hard on dips instead) and watching the pounds or reps on the lifts increase over time. That and I am never sad if my hands are busy doing something.
Go to bed at a decent time so you are not having to wake up by alarm. Will be natural if you're getting enough sleep.
Also, coffee...caffeinated. I cut caffeine for over a year but went back because I felt the positives of being more gym motivated maybe outweighed the negatives of what the caffeine is subtly doing to me.
Given what you said, you may want to opt for a more social upper body workout. Not sure if this would interest you, but climbing gyms are happier places, less vain, than weights gyms and the other thing that can be enjoyable is kayaking or rowing with a club. I know these days "stand up" paddling is all the rage, no need to discount that either and there are probably group outings on the rivers and lakes, although you can do higher speeds in a regular sit-down kayak.
Especially some of these modern poorly ventilated weights gyms which smell of rubber matting and degenerate culture can be demotivating. If you stick with weights, find one of those old school places with steroid pumping freaks. They have dedication which is to admire and is inspiring.
Regular cardio if you are not doing it, including walking, is more healthy than weights also for the mind even if it does not make you massive. It may bring you to a higher level of wellbeing if you just do that so you can better re-engage with the weights at a later stage.
You don't always have to go all out. One thing I've learned is that sustained consistent effort is the most important thing. If you're low energy, then go with something you can sustain daily, even if it's small. If you keep it up it will build from there and you'll be able to do more.
First of all sounds like you're really down on yourself and your life, start there because you need to fix that before you can fix anything else. Figure out what it is in your life that is bringing you down and make an effort to change it, whatever needs to be done to fix that just go and do it. Second....you need to push it. There are no cheat codes or special tricks, keep going even when you're tired, even when you feel like crap, even when you don't want to. Just go and push through it and don't just go through the motions you need to get a real workout in where by the end you're burned out and proud of what you just did. But that doesn't have to be pounding yourself with weight, yea you should definitely do resistance training but you can do other things too like play sports, do some sprints and cals outside and things of that nature.
If there is something physically wrong with you well then yea go order a full blood panel see what it looks like and fix what needs to be fixed, I can help you with that if you would like. But if it's just a self motivation issue nothing and nobody is going to fix that but yourself. You need to tell yourself that it's not okay to not go to the gym, tell yourself that it's just a normal part of your everyday life which can't be skipped like brushing your teeth. You need to push through it until it becomes just a normal thing to you. Eventually when you see changes in your physique and daily outlook because you're healthier and look better it will be the opposite where if you skip the gym it will feel like you did something wrong.
While I don't like being "dependent" on caffeine, I also feel that the tradeoff is unquestionably worth it. I also am a type that can both take naps during the day and sleep 9 hours at night, easy.
I was curious about the Intenet's opinion on how much weight you should be able to do on front squat vs. normal back squats and I stumbled upon this on a random Quora thread:
"Never do more than 6 standard reps in front squat, as the scapulae retractors cannot hold the proper position isometrically for much longer."
I only do front squats because I work out at home and have to clean the barbell off the floor. Also, I find that it's much harder to hurt my back through bad technique with front squats because you can't really round your back while doing them. Anyway, I've been doing sets of 8 to 12 front squats for years, so I assume the bit here about no more than 6 reps is just bro science, but I was interested in everyone's opinion.
www.quora.com
"Never do more than 6 standard reps in front squat, as the scapulae retractors cannot hold the proper position isometrically for much longer."
I only do front squats because I work out at home and have to clean the barbell off the floor. Also, I find that it's much harder to hurt my back through bad technique with front squats because you can't really round your back while doing them. Anyway, I've been doing sets of 8 to 12 front squats for years, so I assume the bit here about no more than 6 reps is just bro science, but I was interested in everyone's opinion.
How much weight should I use on front squats compared to back squats?
Answer (1 of 3): As for relative strength, a structurally-balanced individual ought to be able to front squat at least 85% of his high-bar back squat. That's assuming he’s going all the way down in both exercises, without excessive forward lean (you can inflate your BS numbers with forward leanin...
I was curious about the Intenet's opinion on how much weight you should be able to do on front squat vs. normal back squats and I stumbled upon this on a random Quora thread:
"Never do more than 6 standard reps in front squat, as the scapulae retractors cannot hold the proper position isometrically for much longer."
I only do front squats because I work out at home and have to clean the barbell off the floor. Also, I find that it's much harder to hurt my back through bad technique with front squats because you can't really round your back while doing them. Anyway, I've been doing sets of 8 to 12 front squats for years, so I assume the bit here about no more than 6 reps is just bro science, but I was interested in everyone's opinion.
How much weight should I use on front squats compared to back squats?
Answer (1 of 3): As for relative strength, a structurally-balanced individual ought to be able to front squat at least 85% of his high-bar back squat. That's assuming he’s going all the way down in both exercises, without excessive forward lean (you can inflate your BS numbers with forward leanin...
Sounds like midwit gobbledygook. The body adapts to what you throw at it.
If you have been doing higher rep sets of front squats for years with no issues, then you officially know more than the guy who says "the scaps cannot retract for longer than 5 reps".
Look up that dude on quora and you'll find that he's some kind of lawyer.
I was curious about the Intenet's opinion on how much weight you should be able to do on front squat vs. normal back squats and I stumbled upon this on a random Quora thread:
"Never do more than 6 standard reps in front squat, as the scapulae retractors cannot hold the proper position isometrically for much longer."
I only do front squats because I work out at home and have to clean the barbell off the floor. Also, I find that it's much harder to hurt my back through bad technique with front squats because you can't really round your back while doing them. Anyway, I've been doing sets of 8 to 12 front squats for years, so I assume the bit here about no more than 6 reps is just bro science, but I was interested in everyone's opinion.
How much weight should I use on front squats compared to back squats?
Answer (1 of 3): As for relative strength, a structurally-balanced individual ought to be able to front squat at least 85% of his high-bar back squat. That's assuming he’s going all the way down in both exercises, without excessive forward lean (you can inflate your BS numbers with forward leanin...
People on the internet, ESPECIALLY fitness people, or even "trainers" in the gym say and do whatever they can to differentiate themselves and gain attention. It's why you see trainers at the gym or online fitness "gurus" making and telling out of shape idiots with trashed bodies to do crazy weird workouts that you know are not good for them, they have to. Very few (I've only known a couple) trainers will be honest and just teach you basic sustainable effective things because they won't make any money doing that as someone doesn't need them for that, most trainers and fitness idiots whole schtick is based on novelties that will either destroy your body so you think you got a good workout in when really all you did was hurt yourself or don't accomplish anything that a very basic workout wouldn't be better at.
Don't buy into any of it, as @Hannibal said you know your body a lot better than this jackass.
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BehindTheLines
Catholic
The bigger problem here has nothing to do with this ridiculous take on front squats. It's that you're even looking this up in the first place.I was curious about the Intenet's opinion on how much weight you should be able to do on front squat vs. normal back squats and I stumbled upon this on a random Quora thread:
"Never do more than 6 standard reps in front squat, as the scapulae retractors cannot hold the proper position isometrically for much longer."
I only do front squats because I work out at home and have to clean the barbell off the floor. Also, I find that it's much harder to hurt my back through bad technique with front squats because you can't really round your back while doing them. Anyway, I've been doing sets of 8 to 12 front squats for years, so I assume the bit here about no more than 6 reps is just bro science, but I was interested in everyone's opinion.
How much weight should I use on front squats compared to back squats?
Answer (1 of 3): As for relative strength, a structurally-balanced individual ought to be able to front squat at least 85% of his high-bar back squat. That's assuming he’s going all the way down in both exercises, without excessive forward lean (you can inflate your BS numbers with forward leanin...
You need to shell out $60 (assuming money and space are the limiting factors; if not, just get an actual rack) and buy a pair of these
I assume that you, like most people, can probably power clean (I doubt you're doing full cleans to get the weight up) around half of what you can back squat and maybe only about 75-80 percent of what you can front squat. You're really limiting yourself by only front squatting, especially front squatting this limited amount.
The best part is, you don't need to go on Quora anymore, either.
I need some advice on creatine, although Iv done sports and exercised my whole life Iv never really taken creatine or any kind of gym supplements nor was I really educated on diet.
Do you guys all take creatine? What is the negative side of creatine? I almost bought myself some today but I need to find out more about it. I dont want to take some short term product that might give me a long term problem. I recently heard the father Moses interview young penitent did that Samseau shared, it was really good, he recommended creatine its something he takes.
Father Moses also gave me a very simple revelation in this interview that for some odd reason I havent been doing. He said a person just needs to eat more to make sure we have a calory surplus, for the last 2 weeks Iv been buying myself beef short rib to add to my breakfast and lunch meals and in just 2 weeks Im already seeing results.
Do you guys all take creatine? What is the negative side of creatine? I almost bought myself some today but I need to find out more about it. I dont want to take some short term product that might give me a long term problem. I recently heard the father Moses interview young penitent did that Samseau shared, it was really good, he recommended creatine its something he takes.
Father Moses also gave me a very simple revelation in this interview that for some odd reason I havent been doing. He said a person just needs to eat more to make sure we have a calory surplus, for the last 2 weeks Iv been buying myself beef short rib to add to my breakfast and lunch meals and in just 2 weeks Im already seeing results.
I need advice on training during fasting times like during lent. When I first became Orthodox, during my 2 year catechuman process I lost a lot of my body weight (I have it all back now) due to all the fasts my body wasnt used too plus all the hell that I was going through during this period.
Do you cut your training back a little during lent? What about food what foods do you eat to train that are allowed during lent? There is a lent coming up now mid November so I need to prepare.
Do you cut your training back a little during lent? What about food what foods do you eat to train that are allowed during lent? There is a lent coming up now mid November so I need to prepare.
There isn't any reason not to use creatine, if anything it has a lot of health benefits. The big fear mongering campaign by the healthcare industry when creatine became mainstream all ended up being complete BS, shocker they didn't want you taking something that was good for you and they weren't making money off of. The worst it will do is make you retain water but even that has been negated greatly by the new formulations of it and it's negligible regardless even if you're an ultra responder.
But that being said don't expect some miracle from it, it's not going to do anything special for you it's just a another tool in the box.
What are your goals exactly?
In regards to lent, cutting back on training is the opposite of what you should be doing if you're worried about muscle loss. Cut back on your cardio if anything and add more resistance training. You'll have to excuse my ignorance on Orthodox lent, in my form of Catholiscism we simply don't eat meat for 40 days for Easter if you're doing it by the book and we have another lent that only we do called baoutha for a few days which occurs 3 weeks before lent starts leading up to Easter. Is that different for Orthdox?
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Creatine is great. Put a 5 g scoop of creatine monohydrate in my work out drink of 25 g of whey hydrosilate and 25 g of highly branches cyclic dextrine.
It's also good for brain health.
I but from True nutrition. Promo code Skip for 5 percent off.
IME, if you're having trouble with recovery, you might not be eating enough.
I find that in order to get enough calories to recover properly and gain muscle, I have to eat well beyond what I would normally eat if I listened to my hunger.
I find that's hard to do without tracking calories, since the actual calories don't necessarily track well with how full I feel. The feeling of fullness varies greatly depending on the type of food. For example, lean protein like chicken breast is very filling, but doesn't actually have many calories even though it's great for you, so I have to supplement with things like adding olive oil and oats to my protein shakes just to hit my calorie targets. There are different ways to do this. I've found MyFitnessPal helpful - you set a calorie surplus goal based on bodyweight and activity, set a sensible macro goal (something like 30% protein, 40% fat, 30% carbs), and then once you're set up, tracking calories becomes very easy. Some of the previously free features may now be behind a paywall, but there's a way to set it up (feel free to PM if you want more details).
If I don't eat enough, after a heavy workout (2x bodyweight squat + bench and barbell row) I feel like I got hit by a train for the next few days. As long as I eat well over surplus calories, that feeling goes away and I just feel awesome instead.
So I bought a small amount of creatine yesterday and started taking it today, it should be enough to get me going until lent starts, its 100% pure creatine, it says to take 4-5 teaspons of it a day for the first week, thats all Im taking, not sure if its all on my head but I feel a slight warm feeling in the muscles I worked out today, could be the crratine taking effect?
Iv heard some of those protein shakes are not all good, I knew someone a young guy he landed up in hospital and he said it was because of the shakes, not sure what he was taking though, what whey powder do you recommend?
For now all Im doing is eating more, more meat, eggs, im drinking raw milk as my protein shake, the meat Im eating it quite fatty so lots of calories in it, Im going to give it a go like this and see how I feel after 2 weeks again. Instead of drinking red wine for supper Iv changed to beer, its a good quality beer very pure ingredients, also has some calories.
I love beer as much as the next person, but calories from alcohol are awful. And it has the ability to mess with your REM sleep and drop your T levels. Both would be a setback.
Well Im not a power lifter not that Im against it but I dont have all the equipment at the moment and cant really get any equipment right now as Im preparing to move house so probably only next year.
My workouts consist of running after dropping the kids off at school I take the long way home, this is just as a warm up, sometime I do skipping as a warm up, the only "gym" equipment I have is some homemade cement and steel equipment I made some time back so its limited, I have dumbells and some really big dumbells that are too heavy to use as dumbells so I use it like a bench press, I dont have a bench so I lay on the concrete floor, with the dumbells I can do manu different kind of workouts and with the heavy ones I even do deadlifts but I just do more repetitions as I cant really increase the weight right now, I have to make do with what I have.
I also hàve chin up bar and can do 3 different kinds of chin ups, and I have a push up bar too and can also be used for triceps, I used to do kickboxing many years ago so I also do some of the kickboxing exercises, Im getting a bag again soon as I had to sell mine so just getting a second hand one for while Im waiting to move. Originally I was a soccer player and was playing clib soccer since the age of 4 and also did cycling on weekends during the soccer off season, I dont do that any more.
My goals are to protect my family and make them feel secure and safe when Im with them and to be ready at all times to be able to fight or face a war at any given moment.
Regarding Orthodox lent, there is a 40 Christmas lent now, the nativity fast, its not as strict as great lent but no meat, no milk, no dairy, no oil, no wine, on some weekends wine and oil allowed, and throughout the year every wednesday and friday we follow great lent fasting standardd just for those days then saturday midnight until Sunday after liturgy no food or water allowed, after holy communion then you eat and drink.