#fitness talking

[elfhunk]

hi! i just wanted to say that all of your stuff on exercise and having a good relationship with your body has been really nice to read on my dash.

i've been trying on and off for the last few years to get myself back into a consistent exercise routine that i enjoy (COVID happened, stuff in my life happened, etc.) and i think that both your perspectives + obvious love of the gym are really helpful as motivation.

if i can ask a question: do you have any advice on developing a consistent, realistic schedule and sticking to it? (of course, while still being okay if things come up and change what you can do.) for me, i think one of the reasons i fell out of my routine is that my work/social/life obligations have changed a lot in the past few years. so i've been struggling to figure out where to slot in time for exercise when it feels like there's always something else i could or "should" be doing.

also, thanks for all the fun warframe stuff! i haven't played in ages because of the aforementioned obligation time crunch, but it's also really cool to see what you're doing in the game. my playstyle and preferred warframes were pretty opposite to yours, so i really had no clue that you could do a lot of the things you've shown off.

thank you! i'm glad it's having the desired impression on the other side. i used to think posting about it or deigning to enjoy brief moments of self-indulgent flexing was gauche when i've only put in the bare minimum of effort since i started lifting in 2020... but... uh...

when we only see images of people who have been kissed by perfectly specialized genetics and have dedicated a huge amount of their time, money and resources to it and have these immaculate perfectly proportioned bodies?

that only makes the body dysmorphia madness worse for all of us? especially when so many of those images aren't given context... or disclosing who is and isn't using certain drugs. 🫠

anyway, my handy tool in all of this is a thing i picked up as a habit from sexologist and all around wonderful woman dr. lindsey doe a long, long time ago:

a want, will, won't list.

although in this instance of teaching it was being used to discuss sexual activity, it's how i end up thinking about basically any major decision or lifestyle change.

time just is not infinite! you cannot do it all! there is going to be compromise!

these kinds of tools are a great way to help your brain organize your conflicting thoughts and set boundaries for yourself.

so, i don't know your brain or what accommodations you need, but i hope this framework might help you start figuring it out?

how many hours, total, do you want to spend a week?

how much time on strength training?

how much time on cardio?

how many individual days a week?

what are you willing to change about your existing schedule?

what won't you change under any circumstances?

would you be willing to buy some home equipment?

pay for a different gym that's closer by?

would you want to take a class or pay for a trainer?

do you have friends who would want to pursue this with you?

there's a ton of resources published by actual personal trainers on how to structure a full body workout into a given week for people with every possible permutation of schedule availability if you look for them.

as mentioned before, i've actually been having a horrible time at the gym this year. my appetite is shot, my energy is gone, and i've just been unable to prioritize it. part of my own journey with this has been acknowledging where there's necessary compromise. i've had to spend more time working on my brain than my body this year, and that's okay.

i can show myself kindness while still trying to problem solve. i can make cooking meals easier, i can budget for more accessible options, i can go maybe 2-3 days a week instead of 3-4 like i used to.

to facilitate this, i've also been trying to focus even more on the immediate benefits of this work.

focusing on minor aesthetic differences you won't see payoff for months or years just isn't particularly motivating?

but when i've had a long day and i just desperately need an hour or two to focus on something physically demanding that requires my full attention? where i get to walk away feeling physically exhilarated and accomplished, even if i was no where near my PR?

that's self care, baby! we all understand how important that is!

your body is truly just too stupid to care about the long term goals. it will just feel really good, and much better than it did an hour before even if the actual performance of that session was mediocre.

apologies for another full essay a response!

again, i truly just don't know your life or your circumstances, so i can only provide broad strokes... but i hope this at least gives some scaffolding to begin tackling the issue with some kindness to yourself as you re-calibrate.

[cordspaghetti]

really factual recounting with no embellishments whatsoever

[beebfreeb]

[ggenggar]

the four F’s (and Daisuke)

[mynnthia]

was talking with a friend about how some of dunmeshi fаndom misunderstands kabru's initial feelings towards laios.

to sum up kabru's situation via a self-contained modernized metaphor:

kabru is like a guy who lost his entire family in a highly traumatic car accident. years later he joins a discord server and takes note of laios, another server member who seems interesting, so they start chatting. then laios reveals his special interest and favorite movie of all time is David Cronenberg's Crash (1996), and invites kabru to go watch a demolition derby with him

[oars]

[rikebe]

link's back at it again

[geezmarty]

karlach and the benefits of having a sorcerer gf

[hitracks]

Close enough. WELCOME BACK SWAG2024

[verflares]

(click for higher quality!) draconified link concept ive been chipping away at this past week ..... here's my funny little compendium concept for him:

"A heroic spirit has taken the form of this bestial dragon. Unlike it's kin, this creature exhibits an extremely aggressive disposition. It appears highly territorial, and will relentlessly chase down those who disturb its skywide patrols - of which it seems to be endlessly searching for either a long-time vassal or foe. Unfortunately, it seems the spirit within has long since forgotten exactly who it was looking for…"

[elfhunk]

You seem to know much about body training!

Could you recommend any chest excercizes?

I love my body and I only wish my moobs were bigger :3

cracks knuckles.

alright, so here's a funny little chart i made on twitter a few months ago. i stand by basically all of this still. i know you're asking about just your "moobs", but i cannot answer this to my satisfaction without opening the can of worms.

you can target just your chest, but it's important to remember that your body is a complex systems of muscles supporting each other to perform any given task.

for working on the chest, we can take the barbell bench press as our example to demonstrate.

here's a rough map of the muscles being worked by that exercise.

even if it's the pectorals and deltoids doing the majority of the work, it can't actually do that work if it's not stabilized by the core, or if you're body isn't firmly grounded through your legs.

long term, regardless of whether your goal is strength, bulk, or definition... you kinda need to work on everything.

so all of that groundwork out of the way, assuming you're starting from scratch, here's what i would recommend based on personal experience and recommendations my friends have found helpful:

cable resistance bands! full kits will run anywhere from $20-30.

body weight exercise! even better with a pull-up bar.

your goal should be gradually increase the load being put on your muscles by increasing the cable band tension or going through the stages of push-up modification.

your goal is getting to ~8-12 repetitions of a exercise until failure. failure is what it sounds like. it is your muscles telling you that they are done. it is really important to listen to them when they tell you that they are done. pain is not in fact gain. pain is pain. pain is potential injury.

if something feels wrong, stop what you're doing. when you're starting this stuff out at home, you need to be really careful. i cannot, from my ivory tower of the internet, obsessively monitor your form. i can just tell you to watch, read, and listen carefully to whatever instructions you're following.

what really helped me when i was figuring out my relationship to this stuff is just bending to the whims of capitalism and picking up a tracker app. i personally use fitbod and haven't had any complaints, but a full $10/mo subscription for this kind of thing isn't for everyone.

the apps are mostly helpful because once you tell them what equipment (if any) you have access to, they'll only generate routines you can actually do. that way, you can gradually just learn what you like doing and what your options are for any given muscle group. one could, hypothetically, subscribe for a month while writing down all of the exercise options it recommends before immediately unsubscribing! i don't know!

so that leaves us the other two thirds of the venn diagram.

sleep is sleep, but diet is... really where stuff gets wonky and hard to advise on from a distance.

as stated above, i personally decided to not track any of my macros or attempt serious bulking & cutting. food is too important to me personally, socially, and culturally! so i focus on consistency instead.

so if your goal is close to where mine is—firmer, more muscular pectoral muscles that fill out my silhouette nicely, that you can feel flex and move and tense, but aren't the cavernous cleavage of a dedicated bodybuilder—it's mostly just going to be supplementing your protein and creatine intake.

i leave you with this very funny video from adam ragusea i show to people when i try to explain what looking up anything gym related on the internet is like.

for the average person, 99% of this process is just... doing the work. it's the literal work, putting decent quality fuel back in the tank, and giving your body the rest it needs afterwards.

i'll be transparent and say this year has been actually horrible for me at the gym. between changing medication and personal life circumstances, i just physically and mentally couldn't hit most of my goals this year.

but that's fine! because every time i get back from the gym i feel so much better than when i left.

if you keep that feeling of strength and very literal empowerment centered in your mind, it will precipitate outward naturally.

especially if you get to wear something cute while doing it.

[yuukirita]

He's doing hand talk :'D Cute and Sad.

[enden-k]

on my knees for the cowboy cyborg and the space knight 🌹

[depressedfungus]

Baldurs gate isn’t a dnd game it’s a really really really hard dress up game

[hinamie]

the new jjk cafe fits have been living in my head . no thoughts except yuuji in a letterman