are you doing anything different this year?

new goals?

new activities?

I had to sit down for a week. while doing my sprints, went a bit too hard and felt a pull in my right hammy. I'll get back on it this weekend.

new gyms?

speaking of gyms, I haven't been in one since 2020. thinking about joining planet fitness and doing on 1-2 days a week. I miss doing cable and machine work to hit certain areas.


anyone a member there? how is it?

otherwise, what made you choose your current gym?

I'm just trying to drop 5 pounds a month till July 1 so it's cutting season for me. Upping cardio and cutting calories. Going to try to stick to my normal lifting routines till I just can't do the same weight/reps cuz of lost strength. Got to get rid of this layer of fat over my body. We'll see where it goes.

I'm working on being more consistent overall. life been lifing with my schedule.

i used to be, and i want to be again, but the only gym that's conveniently close to me right now is LA Fitness (which I've been a member of before and didn't like).

i loved Planet Fitness. super chill, never too packed, and they had all the equipment i needed. if there was one close enough to me i'd join back up in a heartbeat.

right now i have a gym at my complex that's not too bad and i'll take that over LA Fitness for now.

there are a couple of them near me. one day a week might be worth cost and if I don't like it, not a big deal.

goal is to put on ~20lbs over the next 8 months, max out aesthetics/physique and compete in my next powerlifting meet at 183. trying to hit a 1550 total in August

also i did used to go to PF and LA. LA is a little fancier. it has actual benches, cages and amenities. but other than that all I really miss from both is the women and the amount of accessory machines. im scheming on ways to get more women to my gym though lol

>goal is to put on ~20lbs over the next 8 months, max out
>aesthetics/physique and compete in my next powerlifting meet
>at 183. trying to hit a 1550 total in August
>
>also i did used to go to PF and LA. LA is a little fancier. it
>has actual benches, cages and amenities. but other than that
>all I really miss from both is the women and the amount of
>accessory machines. im scheming on ways to get more women to
>my gym though lol

I've been to LA years ago. it was cool. definitely a pretty people gym at the time. I prolly didn't fit lol.

PF is looking interesting. need to tour to see what they have.

yeah, eye candy isn't a bad thing. good luck lol

Well, kinda. Still 24-hour fitness but different location.

I was going to one close to my kid's middle school. Biggish gym. Almost never packed. Same folks up there all the time. Pretty good in that way.

She's now in high school, that gym near her middle school is old and crusty. AND they had the nerve to get notably sloppy with not cleaning it. Like bathroom urinals not getting cleaned for a week, running out of paper towels on the floor so it isn't as easy to wipe a machine, all of that kind of stuff.

But the straw for me? They changed to not opening until 8 AM on weekends. I'm normally at the gym NLT 7 even on the weekends.

Now I'm at a different 24-hour fitness that is less close to my house but still not a crazy commute. 12 minutes instead of 6. Sometimes it is more packed than I would like but its easily a newer, nicer, cleaner gym so its a no-brainer/should've done it sooner situation for sure. And real talk, many of the womens in there are the magnificent (with the sensational style).

And funny enough, I see several people from the old gym in the 'new' one. Like we all switched around the same time (week before Christmas).

Besides that:

- More free weights
- Kicking up intensity of cardio
- Doing more complex movements as I continue to drop weight.
- I'm going to make myself play a couple of pickup games at least a couple of times a month. It'll be half-court but the 'regulars' at this gym seems to run reasonably intense games (decent defense, some physicality, grown man screens, some dudes will clearly 3-point shoot you to the house if you don't close out on them FOR REAL).
- I'm also going to do more active recovery (yoga, extensive stretch routines) on the 2 days I'm not usually going to the gym.


>are you doing anything different

this year?
>
>new goals?
>
>new activities?
>
>I had to sit down for a week. while doing my sprints, went a
>bit too hard and felt a pull in my right hammy. I'll get back
>on it this weekend.
>
>new gyms?
>
>speaking of gyms, I haven't been in one since 2020. thinking
>about joining planet fitness and doing on 1-2 days a week. I
>miss doing cable and machine work to hit certain areas.
>
>
>anyone a member there? how is it?
>
>otherwise, what made you choose your current gym?
>
>

I've got a pretty good stretching routine, but it's what I've been doing for years before and after basketball/running/lifting. I want to building on my stretching and calisthenics, and yoga seems like a god way to go.


>- I'm also going to do more active recovery (yoga, extensive
>stretch routines) on the 2 days I'm not usually going to the
>gym.

I need to make this shit as easy as possible for me bc i'm lazy as fuck and using any reason NOT to work out.

$570 on bowflex adjustable weights and another $100 on a bench. Goal is to do about 30-40 minutes a day if possible.

Being able to work out anytime you're home is dope.

Years ago, I bought some old equipment and it's paid for itself many times over. Going into the basement to lift has me working out more than ever. A squat rack might be my next investment, and my mom has an old stationary bike for me.

4x a week. I been doing 5-6 days a week now. So easy to get home from work, shit, work out, shower and be done by 7:30p. Plus what i can do in 45 min at home would take twice as long to do at a gym (including travel time/wait time for machines).

cuz i feel like this is real solution to get my ass in gear.

if i had a nice free weights set and a bunch at home i'd actually work out.

not that hard to store one big item like a stationary bike plus some smaller stuff. i'm in a 1 BR and have a giant schwinn airdyne d2 plus weight bench and weights, and yoga stuff. not quite feng shui-compliant but it's out of the way 'enough' that it doesn't cause problems

no excuses about time or travel, etc.

I got a squat rack and nearly 300lbs of free weights. it's helped a lot.

Ground is covered in snow/ice now, so I gotta wait a bit. Gives me time to adjust the brakes... they were way too loose to be safe the last time I rode.

Also, I rode wearing a helmet for the first time in my life, lol. Need some new gloves next.

Got a free stationary bike waiting to be picked up, and thinking about adding a squat rack to the basement gym. Also, I have a 100# heavy bag that I need a stand for... might buy/build one of those this winter too.

I can't ride in winter. I refuse lol.

wearing a helmet feels crazy the first time. I started a few years ago. even buying it felt like selling out. I got used to wearing it pretty quickly and now rarely ride without it. groups rides help with not feeling like a dork.

fortunately, the one bike accident I've had didn't involved my head. I did get staples in my ankle though. that was fun.

I'll use it as a supplement to my home workouts and also a way hopefully help my wife be more active.

I learned how much I really missed being in a gym. hadn't been in about five years or so. I'd been using the work gym pre-covid, but a role job killed that.

anyway, I'm sore pretty much all over. will be back next weekend. now I'll have to figure out how to balance my track time with the weekend gym visits.

My basement is always lukewarm, but never really warm. By the time I start sweating my workout is over.

Wish I had more space and a higher ceiling down there too. I have to carry the weights upstairs to do certain exercises (like overhead presses) because there simply isn't enough room down there.

my equipment is in the garage. there's space for some workouts, but not others.

also, because it's in the garage, I deal with whatever the weather is outside. so now's it's freezing in there. I actually don't mind it too much. I'll go running in the cold for a couple of miles.

for now the gym will be my alternative when I need some machines or cables that I can't have at home.

n/m

it's never crowded. I can usually get to a machine or weights without and issue. the service has been friendly.

I've been going back to back on Sat/Sun. this past weekend, I went to the track on Sat. then straight to the gym. Sun, just gym.

working on core more now. I've generally stayed away from doing abs specifically as I knew other exercises would help there. then I remembered if my abs are stronger, it'll help with the other movements.

shiiiit.

not sure how week days look since I've only been on the weekends.

I thought it was weird too. especially during new year's resolutions in january.

trying to get down to 20 BMI but currently at 21 which is probably good enough for now. could potentially hit 20 by the end of the month. feeling pretty good about how i'm looking these days, which has been a rare occurrence for one reason or another over the years

started using the Lose It! app for calorie tracking in late december and it was extremely illuminating. all those "harmless" snacks and seemingly low sugar items add up in the aggregate. it also set in stark contrast the actual bad eating habits i have developed over the years, specifically stress eating. my job is extremely high stress that carries over to my off-work hours and it's low pay with unpredictable hours. i'm attempting to find a different job that will have less of an impact on me when i'm not working. ideally i find something that pays more with less stress, which should help with my stress management outside of work

i'm trying to restart daily intermittent fasting but i'm having a very tough time configuring it so i can start my day off at 11 AM (i work 11-7, generally up around 10:45 AM and asleep around 4 AM) with a green smoothie. might just need to push the smoothie to later and just do a lot of water with some coffee when i get up. currently i'm doing the 5:2 fasting thing where i "fast" (still doing a green smoothie in the AM) for about 20 hours on saturday and sunday. unsure how much it's helping me lose weight (other than running a calorie deficit) but i do enjoy the mild cleanse that comes with only putting water in your body

keeping tabs of those snacks is a good idea that I've been reluctant to to. might need to change my mind on that.

questions.

why do you track bmi?

better metric than weight?

tracking both?

>keeping tabs of those snacks is a good idea that I've been
>reluctant to to. might need to change my mind on that.

seeing the hard data helps a lot for me. i have always had issues with sugar addiction, overeating, and stress eating. my anxiety and high metabolism kept my weight in check in my teens and 20s but as my metabolism slowed down in my 30s and i figured out how to manage my anxiety better, my bad eating habits remained and started causing issues with managing my weight. it's something i "knew" in the back of my mind but seeing the actual calorie intake makes it more apparent and helps me stay motivated to not return to those bad eating habits, or at least keep them in check as best as i can

>questions.
>
>why do you track bmi?
>
>better metric than weight?
>
>tracking both?

tracking BMI since weight is relative but also tracking both since you need weight to calculate BMI. i'm 6' with broad shoulders and narrow hips so i can reasonably look "good" (in clothes) up to 170-175 lbs but it's a disaster (to me) with my clothes off. i'm not jordan obsessively thinking about trying to return to my "playing weight" (which would be whatever super low BMI i had in my 20s) but i feel like 20 BMI is within reach and would be a fantastic baseline to establish as i approach decade #5 in a few years. also i like the challenge of it

Shes a certified trainer whos been working out for years. Ive always been hit and miss in the gym but I have been consistent so far since the new year. And for once actually sticking to the diet. Down 11 lbs already from 224 to 213! Hit up my fitness IG if you'd like to follow the progress.

IG: @flabby_2_zaddy

that name is hilarious! lol

good work though. consistency has been my issue, getting better.

Same here, this is honestly the most consistent Ive been with my diet & workout at the same time. Definitely seeing a difference.

see gains.

Definitely the quickest i've seen results....can't wait to see where i'm at after a few months.

I'm about to step up and see what kind of spring/summer body I can get.

I was up 12 pounds since last summer. Already lost 4 of them just by not drinking for a week. Definitely taking February off at the minimum and possibly going all the way until summer. I fell into the drinking too much trap during the holidays and continued out of boredom during the dark, cold, grey, miserable, depressing, marathon month of January, but that’s done with.

Going to start up the exercise next week. Going to build up to lifting 3 days a week, either boot camp class or boxing class twice a week, and then some hiking or running on the weekends, for the spring summer. Would love to find a good basketball run and start playing once a week again, too. It’s been a good 4-5 years since I played and I really miss it.

this knee would freak out too much. running doesn't bother it much, but anything with fast direction changes or explosive jumping can be a problem.

are you shooting for a certain weight or just til you feel/look like you want?

I was up to 190 which is the most I’ve ever been.

Right now I’ve been 183-185 this week, so getting there still!

It’s more about dropping the little beer gut I’d built up and could feel when I moved certain ways. I can’t have that.

I’ve never had any knee issues or any issues when hooping at all. I feel like sticking to the “old man game”, I’d be fine. Spot up for jumpers, and let others do the ball handling, and driving to the hoop. Gotta find a run though, I talked to one of the guys who used to organize our runs and he seemed to think it ain’t happening, lol. Guys have moved away, busy with their kids’ sports, etc. It’s too bad, it was a good run where everyone knew how to play and played reasonably hard but not overboard. Hard to find a run where everyone is on the same page.

Been strictly pull-ups, pushups, air squats, stretching, and some ab exercises so far. I figure I’ll go a few more weeks with this stuff, and then I’ll get into the weights and boxing stuff.

i'm up 10 lbs from my comp in december (161 vs 171) and i already feel like superman. next block we will be PRing on every lift for sure.

what's more difficult for you? bulking or cutting?

the hardest thing is just getting it in everyday depending on what i have to do for work that day, and what im actually training.

luckily i work from home so i can just eat around the clock.

but on days i have meetings in the morning it throws off my eating timing. and on squat/deadlift days i don't like to train too on a full stomach so i end up having to eat 2/3 of my daily meals after working out. i train in the afternoons so 7pm-11pm is just a gorge session and catching up on tv

bench day i get 2/3 in before i work out.

the first two weeks my coach had me on 2500 cals trying to figure out what my baseline was. the last two weeks we upped it to 2600. so i asked him why dont we just go crazy and just do like 3500-4000 a day just to get the weight up quick but he is trying to see how my body reacts to smaller increases and if i can keep resting abs through the bulk. apparently just jacking up the cals like 33% makes that impossible. i think my body would just even itself back out w/ the way i train but we still have like 4 months before i need to be at 183

That's where I am right now. Restricting, upping cardio, and intermittent fasting. Be having me scowling lol

...to help get some gains quicker. Was thinking I wasn't eating enough.

Gained a little muscle, and a bit of a spare tire too :(

It's like it mostly went to my mid-section. I'm back to eating moderately and accepting slow growth. I'm tall & lanky, so it's always been that way for me, even back when I was lifting in college.

I switched from doing chin ups to pull ups over the last few days. my back is on fire!

all this time, I thought my chins were working my back more, along with the biceps. these pulls are a game changer on that.

I was avoiding them because I thought I was too weak to effective do them. not doing but 6 or so at a time, but I feel a huge difference.



at the house, I'm about to change the iron plates to rubber coated. always wanted them, but now I see some good prices. so might be time to go for it.

Gotta start working in some chins. I usually do pull ups 5 at a time, down to 3 at a time until I hit 50-60 total.

Why rubber plates?

I'm thinking about cleaning the surface rust off and painting my plates some bright colors.

these pull ups are stalling at about 15. they hit different, I'll have to build up.

2 reasons.

decided on rubber to reduce the noise when handling the weights. too much clanging when changing plates or lifting with force.

also when doing exercises that require gripping, it's much easier for the metal to slip from my hands. wanted to help stop that.

my metal plates never rusted and had them for years. I was able to sell them within an hour of posting them on the marketplace. sold them for 125 for 250lbs. could've gotten more, but wanted to get them out of the garage asap since I had the new ones.

might decide to replace my metal dumbbells if I can find the right price.

6-8 miles. Legs been feeling like rubber by the end, lol. I remember when I used to go for 20 miles and feel less tired. Been only a few rides, so I'm getting back there.

Working my way up to riding to and from work, which is ~15 miles round-trip.

sidled over to fake sugar sodas from real sugar sodas about a year ago. apparently the fake stuff is only marginally less worse for you than the real stuff. i would drink a zevia or virgil's zero sugar soda as i was winding down for bed but it would just make me hungry and ended up causing a lot of very late night and off-schedule snacking. anecdotally felt like my body was reading it as real sugar. no bueno

finally found a sparkling water with some decent taste "up front" in the form of tapo chico. had experimented with sparkling/flavored water brands like waterloo, la croix, spindrift, etc. but the flavor was all on the back end so they weren't a satisfying replacement. i'm not expecting sugary sweetness up front with a sparkling water but i need *something*. feeling pretty good about being able to reframe sodas (even non-sugar ones) as a "very occasional" treat

i try to consciously drink a good amount throughout the day but with a meal i have to have something sweet.

I started nodding at “up-front” ha cuz i know exactly what you talkin about. i like to take a waterloo, la croix etc, then kick that ho up a notch with a very tiny squeeze of crystal light or the kool aid water flavoring joints. been off soda for a long time and havent really had the urge to go back.

but that missing link from "carbonated and sweet, front-loaded" to "carbonated and a little juice-y on the back end" wasn't there until i found topo chico, specifically the blueberry hibiscus flavor. it's a small detail but having something up front and carbonated does do enough to "trick" me into thinking i'm drinking soda

I rarely drink sodas, but wouldn't say I've quit. I'll get one occasionally. I've grown to not like the fizz as much though.

sodas have been pretty much replaced by sweet tea. I can't see to shake that just yet. I've cut back a lot, but will still get it more than I should.

* on the 534 cause i have gotten 545 up on deadlift but it just slipped grip at the top. it wouldn't have counted in comp so i don't really count it

bw sitting around 172 lbs lately

not a crazy jump on my numbers (+5 per lift roughly) but considering we haven't really been working compounds specifically that's a great baseline

squat/bench/deadlight?

don't remember if I've asked before, but how do you take care of your tendons? massage?

as far as managing tendon/pain, it’s largely just a combo of developing good technique over the last two years, properly warming up and then load management with how heavy I decide to go day to day.

usually when I have elbow/shoulder issues now it’s because I’m doing something wrong in the movement moreso then too much load