I want to eventually hit a 4x+ bodyweight deadlift and 3x+ bodyweight squat, but it’ll be at least 5 months before I’ll have access to a barbell, so unless the world can figure out a way to get rid of COVID, not even Pinky’s blessing will help 
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Hmm not the best scenario but as with any situation in life we can only make the best of things. There’s almost always something productive you can do if ur keen
Building muscle in the lower body right now will carryover to ur goals long term. > Strength is a combo of more muscle, better technique/leverages and neuromuscular adaptions. Neuromuscular adaptions is from heavy weights so is not an option rn so we go after muscles. By no means am I advocating a mega bulk but isocaloric or slightly hyper caloric dieting would best support your goals.
Luckily u don’t need massive weights to build muscle but the more resistance u can scrounge together the better even if it’s just a back pack full of heavy things but a set of adjustable DBs 20-30kg each aren’t prohibitively expensive. Bands can also be useful
As low as 30% 1RM can be used to induce hypertrophy but needs to be taken relatively near failure so that’s a lot of reps. That’s why getting some extra resistance is more time efficient and probably saves ur sanity more especially when ur doing multiple sets to accumulate volume
If exercises such as lunges, split squats and pistol squats put u in the right intensity range then ur ready to go. We can get quite creative here but as guinea pig I’m not super creative
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So…
- Everything hurts
- Slept shit. @Koestrizer Have you ever experienced a “double inception” dream. (“Waking up” in a dream only to realize it’s a dream… twice)
- I’ve only been up for an hour and I just want to curl up and go back to bed for the day
What of pea gravel or rubber mulch?
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The issue isn’t that I couldn’t do it. It’s that my mom won’t let me.
If I were living alone, I’d just sign up for a proper gym membership at the LA fitness literally less than 2miles from my house
I’ve seen you express similar sentiments a lot lately.
If I was the one having these experiences they mean “you are not doing okay”
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Stress has been high and sleep hasn’t been great
Right, just with the issue being that sand is messy, I was curious if a non-messy filler would work.
Could always get punching bag/grappling dummy too instead. Something pre-filled.
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Sleep and stress usually tie together. Might be an idea to ease of a bit, if you can. Like, just train for maintenance for two-three weeks. Don’t burn out. Fewer training days, less stressful workouts.
I always fail to listen to these cues myself and I never get away with it.
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It’s not just the mess. It’s that plus space plus having to drive out to get heavy stuff just so I can have another piece of workout equipment “crowding the garage” (getting the 45lb kB was already testing her limits)
I’ll definitely look into it if gyms aren’t open in Pittsburgh
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That’s the problem. I’ve been training “on maintenance”, not even that. No matter how hard I push my current workouts, it’s not the same as having 100kg on the bar for heavy deads
That’s not what I mean. Train to not atrophy. And that doesn’t demand a lot of training, neither in volume or intensity. Nor frequency.
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You’re nineteen (?). Your body and your psyche seems to have been giving you signals for quite a while now that they both need a break. Maybe you can continue pushing on, who knows.
Personally, when I don’t yield to my body’s better judgement it usually results in injury or depression. Recovering from either takes a long time and usually detracts from progress far more than what I imagine taking the foot off of the gas would have.
Sure, there’s something to be said that success is rarely enjoyed by those that do not take any risk and I can’t really help you decide which times you should listen to body and which times you shouldn’t.
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Yeah, I don’t deal with risk well
I’m still not sure where to draw the line between making excuses and actually needing a break
I feel like you have received pretty much a unanimous response to what you, when in doubt, should do here in this log. The only voice not seconding the sentiment seems to be your own
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To paint a more vivid picture, even those that routinely point out to other people when they have a work ethic problem are all telling you that you should take a break when you feel the need.
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Good point, no productive workout is happening today. Probably just going to take a walk, or something easy
Sounds like a tee-up for perpetuating under-recovery.
I’d say, if you can, just sit outside to get fresh air.
You don’t need to walk. If you absolutely have to do something, do twenty bodyweight squats and stretch. Move your joints through their range of motion casually. That doesn’t mean you have to do push-ups to move through the elbows range of motion. Stand on one foot, balance. If you feel that you have to work hard, work hard to take it easy.
Maybe you read this and you feel that this is simply not a possibility for you. Maybe you extrapolate ahead to tonight, and think “if I take it that easy I’ll lie awake tonight frustrated with myself for not doing enough”.
If that’s the case, then today do what you feel that you have to. But, you should also then take this opportunity to acknowledge to yourself (not me, not us) that you have these thoughts. And, I wouldn’t qualify guilt over not exercising as healthy. I’m not a mental health professional but it doesn’t strike me as the epitome of healthy behaviour. Maybe reflect how similar that is to what addiction might be like, be it gambling or a substance.
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I’m not sure. I don’t think I’ve had that before.
Shoutout to @Voxel for some fantastic input with a reasonable and calm approach.
There is one thing I would like to make clearer in a little bit more drastic and maybe harsh way: I am of the opinion that you are pretty much incapable of listening to your own body. You ignore any and all signs that’s it’s giving you as well as external inout (most appaling even doctor’s advice).
This is where Allberg brought addiction in. I have tried to get you to think about that as well in the past but I am not sure we are getting through to you (which would kind of proove that theory right).
What you need to do is reintroduce healthier workout and eating habits and change your perception of discipline (that’s been made clear to you a lot).
The thing is, that’s going to be super hard to do on your own! Your best bet is to get someone to guide you.
We as a collective can’t be that person. And we shouldn’t try to be, we are just trying to point you in the right direction.
Just to clarify: if I were to be truthful, I would not suggest Anna take a break. If I could wave a magic wand and change things instantly, I would focus very heavily on making sure that nutrition was sorted, because that feels like the entire issue.