Could be physical, mental, philosophical, religious etc
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taking vitamins, drinking green tea, daily 30 minuet walk and trying to learn something new each day even if its something small.
Every week I write my weight on the giant whiteboard in the kitchen. I don’t erase it, just keep the log running all year long, for anyone to see. It’s an amazing motivator.
Following a weightlifting program has improved my life immensely. 2 years later my back pain is essentially a thing of the past, I look and feel better than my non active peers, my cholesterol and a1c levels are perfect , and I look like a brick shithouse
Anybody that wants to get started but doesn’t know how feel free to drop me a line
I do. Struggling with lower back pain right now…
It’s just brutal… everybody says it but it’s really true, a strong core (abs, lower back, upper legs) makes your back so much sturdier and resistant to “going out”
If you want to go full on strength training, you could consider barbell training with a periodized program (531, tactical barbell, etc). You would essentially have to learn three or four simple lifts and then have at er. This is the route I went, would highly recommend it for anyone. These programs don’t ask you to use strength that you don’t already have, and the movements are very straightforward with lots of tutorials available on YouTube. It’s all sub maximal training and slowly builds over time. Fitness influencers are always trying to baffle everyone with bullshit but the core recipe for getting strong is so extremely simple. Compound lifts, eat, sleep (And some token cardio)
If you just want the strong core and back, you could do hanging leg raises or an ab wheel and some romanian deadlifts with a kettlebell every other day or so.
Thanks. Will look into those. I did some strength training back in the day - and enjoyed it a lot - but that was not focused on the back/core.
That’s great, they say it comes back quickly if you have trained in the past. And as I understand it, the compound lifts themselves also build the core to some extent just from all the bracing you’ll be doing.
What do you recommend?
If you want to know how it all works check out the fitness wiki (optional) otherwise: Buy a power rack, barbell and plates (optional), or you can go to a gym instead. Download the boostcamp app and onboard yourself on the 5/3/1 for Beginners program. The app illustrates how each lift is done, and you can watch youtube for tutorials, they are pretty easy to learn. Lift Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Walk or easy jog for 30-60 mins Tuesday and Thursday. Eat a bit more than usual, a slight surplus like 200 cals, make sure you get a bit of extra protein. Sleep more and better if possible, if your schedule is fixed try to improve your sleep hygiene. Be relentless about making this all a habit, it represents about 1 hour of your day each weekday, but will pay dividends. Stick with that same program for 3 or 6 months. You’ll be practicing the same lifts over and over, practicing your strength. Your technique will improve, you will get shockingly stronger. I’m happy to answer any and all questions for Lemmy folk interested in this.
Do you still run 531 for beginners? I’ve been on BBB for 4 months and finally broke through a plateau. Was doing more hypertrophy and calisthenics before that.
The workload for BBB has gotten so high for me that I do my main lifts and 1-3 accessories on lower days and 2-4 in upper and I’m cooked. Can’t manage to follow wendlers scheme of shitload of reps any more
I bounced around from BBB to a few different templates and then I switched to tactical barbell operator which I run now. The 10 reps of BBB are rough. Did you look at boring but strong? It’s 10 sets of 5 reps at the same %, so same volume in the end but I found it less brutal.
Just a plug for tactical barbell operator, It’s three days a week of lifting and 2 to 3 days a week of either HIT or LSS depending on the conditioning template you incorporate. The conditioning stuff is baked in and it feels much more like a complete plan compared to 531. Really digging it
I’ll check it out. I feel like I’m still making strength gains w BBB, gonna ride it out another 4-8 months. I’ll check out tactical barbell operator, thanks for the suggestion
Do you know if any active fitness communities on Lemmy? I briefly looked around but didn’t see any that seemed active
I think what you’re doing now is really close to “Less Boring But Big” which is 3 sets of 10 for the supplementary lifts instead of 5
There’s not really a lifting group here yet… It would be really cool to have something like weightroom but I’m not sure I’d have what it takes to start up a community. There are definitely folks who lifting and are interested in lifting, just no critical mass yet…
Makes sense, I’m in the same boat I don’t have time or energy to start one but I’d join.
For getting started w tactical barbell, do you recommend books etc? Like 531 it seems like there’s a lot to it, any good resources?
As someone who never expected to become a gym rat I second this.
I started lifting as a purely whimsical decision with a mate and some dumbbells in his backyard.
I’ve now been a powerlifter for 6 years (minus a year due to work related injury) and it’s truly my happy place, am I sad? (Stronger) Am I angry? (Stronger) Am I happy? (You guessed it, stronger).
Not only does lifting grow your body, but also your mind. I may have permanent function loss, but I work around it, and I’m building back (slowly) and stronger than before.
Hardest part is getting started, followed by keeping with it.
My DMs are also open to those who are unsure where/how to start.
- Meditating (not very good at it, but getting better and it’s seriously helping)
- Blocking Reddit on my router, blocking political communities in Lemmy
- A consistent, normal sleeping schedule (a bedtime routine is more important than a morning routine, imo)
- Yoga every morning to help my body work with me throughout the day
- Reading more books
- Getting outside more often
- Paying closer to the thoughts that cross through my mind and stopping them when they’re not helpful - this also helped me realize the underlying anxiety that’s been with me for who knows how many years
- Drinking more water
Oh at the first two words of point 8., I thought there is finally something not like what every adult would tell youngsters again and again, but no. Water. You said water. What a missed opportunity!
But in all seriousness, very good tips, all of them. I’m implementing all of them (though I’m struggling with 4 and 6), I would add just one and a half:
- No phones in bedroom. This is the absolute prerequisite for number 3 (sleep schedule) and can be an enabler for reading books.
- You may or may not get enough excercise from yoga and getting outside. If needed, add more.
Joining a sword fighting gym. Absolutely fantastic community, and while I’m currently laying in a hot tub to soothe my absolutely dead legs, I’m definitively in the best shape I’ve been in in my adult life.
Geralt?
One day, when I’m in actually GOOD shape, and have a bit more grey.
Stop complaining and start focussing on solutions instead of problems.
That’s what the CEO killer thought too!
Many of your thought patterns are actually just habits, rather than an intrinsic part of who you are. It’s not easy and requires consistent effort like any habit change but they can be changed.
Using a calendar religiously.
To remind you when it’s Sunday?
I have ADHD, and relying on calendar and reminders applications have been the single biggest improvement for me other than medication.
Listening to audiobooks to fall asleep. I’ve had insomnia forever and it helps better than anything else I’ve tried.
Journaling and meditating.
This sums it up for me too.
Sorry this is unedited because I’m on a train, winding its way through Fukushima at the moment.
Let’s go the Moc masterlist:
- Drinking coffee black. Used to think that I wouldn’t like coffee without milk and coffee. Turns out I love it, just needed a few weeks to wean myself off sugar and milk and learn to enjoy it. Lost heaps of weight by doing this.
- Weightlifting three times a week. Gaining muscle mass helped me look and feel good in my 20s and now 30s. I was never a good looking teen, but now in my 30s I get compliments from people pretty frequently.
- Losing weight. I have sleep apnea. Losing weight is the single most effective treatment for it.
- Getting jaw surgery. I have TMD, and this constricts my breathing at night. As part of my orthodontic treatment, I opted to get my jaw extended by 7mm. This was very expensive, but I’m in a high paying profession and I’m good at saving. Between this and losing weight, I sleep much better and don’t snore at night. I never used to feel like I ever got any rest.
Getting medicated. I have ADHD. If you’re clever enough, you can brute force your way through the entire education system; school, undergrad, and postgrad without realising you have ADHD. It’s only after a couple of years in a demanding profession (SWE in my case) that I realised I needed help. I was prescribed Ritalin (methylphenidate hydrochloride) and the difference is night and day.
Listening to scientists instead of keto idiots. I went to my GP for the third year in a row for my physical and got told I have the highest cholesterol of anyone in their 30s he had ever seen (I was 31). I had been following fitness influencers, and had lost 10kg cutting calories and eating heaps of beef, butter, and eggs. I cut that out, and upped my plant protein, lean poultry, and fish protein instead. I feel and look heaps better, and am still gaining muscle at about the same rate I was before. I just try and eat heaps of fibre (veggies) and aim for about 100g of protein a day.
Because I don’t have to wrangle my brain into submission the entire day, I’m no longer completely mentally exhausted after 4 hours of work. I can focus for long hours now and feel pretty normal at the end of the day.
At the moment I’m trying to get into the habit of journaling, and quit coffee (drinking green tea instead).
I need to do better with mental habits such as journalling, not browsing Reddit and YouTube, and doing hobbies such as writing and reading instead of playing video games.
That is far more thought than I put into this comment.
Congrats! Sounds like the world is your oyster my man
Immediately tossing negative/intruding thoughts when i think them. It took a year or two to start doing it so naturally i didn’t even realize i was doing it.
Huge game changer with depression, and just life in general.
Don’t compare yourself to others, compare yourself to your past self.
If more of us were doing that, the world would most certainly be a much, much less shittier place than it is!
Oddly, that works in negatively for me.
If you dream of a past high point and wish to return to it, it’s better to use it as inspiration and look to create new high points that belong to your current self.
I’m still fat by these rules … damn
I quit drinking for a while there and when I did I picked up this peculiar habit of drinking tons of soda water. Still do it to this day. Love my tiny bubbles.
FYI Soda water is still highly acidic and will therefore erode your enamel on your teeth.
I know a lot of people don’t believe in it, but fluoridated water is a proven way to combat this. If you drink a bit of water after a glass of soda water, it will protect your teeth against the acidity of the soda water.
PS: I’m not interested in debating anti-science idiots on this matter. You don’t need to listen to this advice, if you don’t want to.
Drink water. Just have a waterbottle within arms reach and take a sip every so often. Makes way more of a difference that you would think with very little effort and eventually becomes a habit, making it take even less effort.
My 1.5 liter water bottle is one of the most useful items I’ve ever bought in my life
This is even more important as it may also force you to get up and go to pee now and then, which may save someone from building stones.
