Dani's Rebel Log

[Dani_Shugart]

This whole idea is right up my alley right now!

After taking that Jordan Peterson test months ago, I’ve been working on a couple personality traits that have been holding me back. If I recall correctly, Peterson seemed to believe you can’t change your personality. But I’ve already made massive headway and am determined to prove that wrong.

@Andrewgen_Receptors

they would take the test as they believed they are, then have them retake the test as they wished they were.

Fascinating! I just added the book’s sample to my Kindle.

@Andrewgen_Receptors

So I went another level deeper and abused AI for personal gain (Google’s Bard AI - couldn’t use ChatGPT because I’m at work… totally doing work-related stuff). I had it combine ENTJ and INTJ personality types and now I’m pretty sure Google knows more about me than I do. At any rate, I actually like this description of my ideal personality a lot and I figured I’d share it - because we seem to share book recommendations and whatnot.

That was such a good idea.

@Andrewgen_Receptors

The cliff notes version of the ENTJ/INTJ (STA) combination reads like this:
Strategic Leader, Independent Thinker with Influence, Calculated Extrovert.

I would’ve assumed you were already there. If not, then it’s only a matter of time!

@Andrewgen_Receptors

The Strategic Analyst (STA) is a mastermind, combining the cool-headed analysis of an INTJ with the inspiring leadership of an ENTJ. They craft brilliant plans with a unique blend of logic and creativity. STAs are persuasive communicators who can influence others with well-reasoned ideas, and while they value their alone time, their insights are invaluable to any team.

Random, but have to say it: This is the personality type that always wins Survivor. If you weren’t so busy crushing work life and family life you could go compete in Fiji, but you’d have to hide your prowess. They try to vote the jacked smart people off pretty quickly.

@Andrewgen_Receptors

TL;DR: I abused AI to make a combination of Myers-Briggs personality types that I fit in - but also that align more with how I want to be as a person, and it worked incredibly well.

This is really an idea worth thinking about. What if we all just started intentionally viewing life through the lens of the person we wanted to be instead of the person we are? Awesome discussion! Thanks for dropping it here.

I’m currently reading a book called Practical Optimism because the author’s interview was so good.

Doctors Advice For How To Reprogram Your Mind - Change Your Mindset | Dr Sue Varma

[Dani_Shugart]

How to Tell When T-Levels Have Dropped

It’s amazing how testosterone (or lack thereof) can affect recovery and pain tolerance. It’s equally amazing how resistant conventional doctors are to helping women get their testosterone up to optimal levels. I have much more to say about that, but it’s not very nice.

So, remember when I posted blood test results showing my testosterone? The only reason I was able to get it up to low-normal is because I was able to acquire a little more than what my doctor is willing to prescribe. It’s still a small dose, but it’s a bit more than the one-half of a milligram (yes you read that right) I was prescribed.

But this extra dose, is in the form of anavar, so I cycled off it for a month because I don’t want to risk getting man-voice. And after a couple weeks of being off it, I experienced joint pain and a non-healing shoulder impingement.

So yesterday, I cycled back on again, and my shoulder feels damn good for the first time in weeks. Just like that. Other nagging aches and pains are also significantly better. I’m not taking enough to change my physique; I just want to sleep through the night without pain.

Granted, if improved recovery allows me to lift as often and as hard as I used to, then it’s possible that I may build back some muscle along the way. And that would be just lovely.

That, coupled with getting over that stupid infection, plus getting my iron back up to a normal functional level (I guess February was pretty weird looking back at it) has got me feeling healthier than ever.

This Week’s Workouts

It all seems so hodgepodge because I was working around irritated joints, but yesterday I dabbled with an upper body session that included some light, direct shoulder work. (Happy dance!)

Yesterday

Gentle mobility session
T-bar row
DB lateral raises
Machine lateral raises
Dips

Today

Leg press
Seated chest press
Bicep curls
Tricep pushdowns

Leaning Into Discomfort

I’ve been making it a goal to seek out discomfort lately, and it’s interesting what that does to your mind. If it was a really hard thing, you might even get some similar feelings that come on after a cold shower: pride, exhilaration, buoyancy… plus the drive to do more.

And it doesn’t matter if you suck or fail, the courage to try – despite the fear of social judgement or whatever it may be – is the goal.

So on Wednesday I competed in a practical shooting competition and was thrilled to not get last place. But even if I had, it would’ve still been a win. Why? Because I did the hard thing despite my insecurity. Being around men who are serious shooters was daunting, and my pastor who is a faster version of John Wick was there too. My knee jerk reaction said, “I don’t belong here.” And then I replaced that thought with, “I belong wherever I am” (a mental tool from Trish Blackwell). And I got to watch my pastor destroy the competition, which was such a treat. His goal was to win and my goal was to not come in last place.

Success!

I saved this to my photos and it makes me crack up every time I scroll past. So here ya go!

[SkyzykS]

I see you’re a fan of taxidermy.

My spirit animal is a lion!

This one:

Roark!

[Dani_Shugart]

@SkyzykS

I see you’re a fan of taxidermy.

Well I didn’t know I was until now! That lion is absurdly funny. I need one for the house asap.

[EmilyQ]

It reminds me so much of this, which has remained memorable to me for like 20 years now.

[Dani_Shugart]

Oh my goodness!!! I just laughed so hard at that!!!

[Dani_Shugart]

Today’s Workout

Abs (banded dead bug): 3 x failure each side
Hip Thrust: 4 x failure with full ROM, then burnout partials
Leg Press: 100 unbroken, then 4x10
Seated Ham Curl: 3 x failure, with an isometric hold at peak contraction

Awesome workout today. Energy stayed high, strong mind-muscle connection, no dizziness, great pumps.

A Question For You

I’m thinking about starting a new thread where we can post a win of the week or day. If you think it’s worth starting, comment below. It’s just weird that we have this relatively tight community, yet there’s not a specific place we can go to cheer each other on.

And the wins don’t have to be huge or even fitness-related. If you got a raise, passed a test, potty trained your dog, watched your kid excel in something, hit a PR, tried cooking something new, why not post it?

Even something as small as, I got my spouse interested in the gym. That’s a reason to celebrate. The internet is full of bad news and negativity. What if we share the good stuff and encourage one another? Let me know your thoughts!

PS - I actually have a serious win right now. I finally figured out how to not have chapped lips all the damn time.

That used to be a constant issue, and all the normal solutions like drinking enough water and using chapstick didn’t work. What actually ended up working? Vasoline.

[cyclonengineer]

@Dani_Shugart

If you think it’s worth starting

Do it - be a good break from some of the negative PWI stuff.

@Dani_Shugart

Vasoline

Dead dinosaurs save the day!

[EmilyQ]

I started a “things that make you happy” thread a few years ago, and occasionally it pops back up, but IMO we can’t have too many places to think or post about good things, and “win” is different than “happy,” though of course they overlap. I say go for it!

[unicornsandrainbows]

Love that thread idea! I echo @EmilyQ anywhere we can focus on happy things sounds amazing.

[Chris_Shugart]

I love the idea of collecting wins. Wins snowball, and so do losses, big and small. Recognizing wins keeps them coming. And maybe there’s a lesson there in seeking wins, like trying something new or challenging just to collect the win and get the momentum going.

[Dani_Shugart]

@cyclonengineer

Do it - be a good break from some of the negative PWI stuff.

@EmilyQ

we can’t have too many places to think or post about good things, and “win” is different than “happy,” though of course they overlap. I say go for it!

@unicornsandrainbows

Love that thread idea! I echo @EmilyQ anywhere we can focus on happy things sounds amazing.

@Chris_Shugart

Wins snowball, and so do losses, big and small. Recognizing wins keeps them coming. And maybe there’s a lesson there in seeking wins, like trying something new or challenging just to collect the win

Yay! I’ll start working on it, but kind of wanted to find legitimate evidence for encouragement being beneficial – not just for the receiver – but maybe even for the giver as well. Or maybe I need to just make up a “scientific” fact pulled from Dani’s Encyclopedia of Random Possibly True Information.

[Dani_Shugart]

@cyclonengineer

Dead dinosaurs save the day!

Why haven’t marketers taken advantage of this?

Get that stegosaurus-soft-lips feel every time!

[Dani_Shugart]

ChatGPT to the rescue!

[Dani_Shugart]

Okay friends, I did it: Track Your Wins 👊

Incidentally, I don’t want to be the first one to post a win! So making a thread and posting first in it might in itself be a win since it feels vulnerable.

[cyclonengineer]

I’m sold.

[Dani_Shugart]

Thoughts on Ab Training

YOU GUYS. I think I solved an ongoing ab training conundrum. I ranted about it in this log a little over a year ago.

So my problem has always been that when trying to build abs, I’d lose the ability to stimulate them over time. For the first couple weeks, I could get a strong mind-muscle connection, but then the more direct ab work I did after that, the less stimulating it got.

Eventually I’d give up because there’s no reward in going through the motions without feeling anything happening or seeing results. But I’ve been super consistent hitting them for the last few months and am pretty sure I’ve discovered what works.

For me, the key is blitzing the abs with direct work for the weeks (or month) that they’re sensitive. This requires doing ab work first in every workout so that it’s not an afterthought.

Then, when the mind-muscle connection becomes harder to achieve, hitting abs only twice a week.

Another thing that’s helped is choosing only one exercise, going to complete failure on it for a few sets, and stopping there for the day… then switching out the exercise every couple weeks. Abs – mine at least – require novelty.

Why Not Just Add Load?

There’s a common idea that you can just increase the resistance of an exercise once you can’t feel it working. Good thought. It’s pretty much common sense for every other muscle group. But I’ve tried that. If my abs aren’t responding to an exercise, increasing the load more can work at first, but going further will usually just cause me to compensate with other muscles and potentially lead to a minor tweak or injury.

So once my abs are numb to an exercise, adding load can work to an extent, but in most cases it’s time to do something completely new.

Progress Pic

This may not look like much but it’s pretty good progress for me. I’ve always struggled to get any separation between the rectus abdominis. So even at my best, it’s usually just obliques and then like, a ghost of an ab. This is probably my most stubborn body part.

[Dani_Shugart]

Hey, note to self and others: If you start a social media account in your late 20s and early 30s, and then change dramatically over a decade (who doesn’t), maybe consider deleting some of the things that you posted early on.

Why care? You don’t have to. Some say it’s important to leave all the old stuff up because that’s “authentic” and shows your journey. But if you’re a completely different person with different values, I’m siding with the belief that it’s okay to take down stuff that doesn’t align with who you are anymore. Especially if you were an attention whore and you regularly posted scantily clad photos.

So, I went through my instagram this morning and deleted dozens of photos that grossed me out. The irony of writing this is the progress picture I posted yesterday. Maybe I’ll end up deleting that later too. I was just stoked to solve the ab problem, and felt like I’d been making some progress in an area that’s always been harder than others.

But back in 2013-2014, I was into physique competitions and wanted to build a following around that. Then, even after moving on from that specific goal, there was still this desperation to always post regularly and to prove that I was fit. And I think that led to a lot of oversharing.

That doesn’t seem to happen with everyone – especially if their purpose is to genuinely help people – but my motives were not that good.

So I deleted a lot today, and if I were to go through just the captions, I’d probably remove even more. Also, people don’t check dates. I know this because of the guy who scrolled back 10 years and commented on how young I look for 40.

Anyway, editing out my past was a little disturbing. Wish I’d done it sooner.

Here’s some stuff that makes me happy:

This fiddle leaf fig has three brand new leaves and it’s not even spring yet! This, juxtaposed with the blizzard conditions right outside the window, makes me glad for houseplants.

Here it is from a distance. I can’t wait until it touches the ceiling.

Also, funny stuff:

I take it more for the unconscious part and less for the sneezing.

[Andrewgen_Receptors]

@Dani_Shugart

back in 2013-2014, I was into physique competitions and wanted to build a following around that. Then, even after moving on from that specific goal, there was still this desperation to always post regularly and to prove that I was fit. And I think that led to a lot of oversharing.

That doesn’t seem to happen with everyone – especially if their purpose is to genuinely help people – but my motives were not that good.

So I deleted a lot today, and if I were to go through just the captions, I’d probably remove even more. Also, people don’t check dates. I know this because of the guy who scrolled back 10+ years and commented on how young I look for 40.

Anyway, editing out my past was a little disturbing. Wish I’d done it sooner.

This is pretty awesome to read and even more awesome to know that you’re sharing this kind of advice. I feel that most young men and women fall victim to this same mindset - though I believe it particularly affects young women, as y’all are much prettier in pictures than we are.

The problem is where it becomes a feedback loop (not saying any of the following applies to you). The urge to post more and more provocative photos/content for the fleeting dopamine hit of emotional/sexual validation is strong and addictive. What’s worse is the feeling of abandonment when you don’t get the validation after putting in effort for a post too. In today’s social media landscape, it’s scary to think about; instagram won’t let someone post nudes, but OnlyFans is only one download away…

It’s not that much of a leap when bikini pictures get more ‘likes’ than modest ones. The internet is forever, and ‘forever’ is a tough concept to grasp when you’re in your teens-20’s.

I won’t allow my daughter to have social media for many of these reasons; it’s a gateway drug and she’s already pretty enough to cause trouble. If she gets her momma’s curves, it certainly won’t get better when she’s in her teens, and having access to a Megaphone/Jumbotron to put that on display is terrifying, to say the least.

[Dani_Shugart]

@Andrewgen_Receptors

This is pretty awesome to read and even more awesome to know that you’re sharing this kind of advice. I feel that most young men and women fall victim to this same mindset - though I believe it particularly affects young women, as y’all are much prettier in pictures than we are.

Thank you so much for the encouragement. I was disappointed in myself yesterday. Maybe taking several months off of social media and then not bothering to look closely at my own account left me with a blind spot.

The thing is, my posts weren’t really out of the ordinary for the fitness world. But why was I using that niche as a measuring stick? And more importantly, why was I trying to so hard to prove my value in that way?

My theory is that seeing too much of other people’s lives on social media is unhealthy. I think it can motivate us to try and “keep up” with others and even mimic the type of stuff they’re putting out there. People’s behaviors and values are contagious. Not to say that other people are to blame for what I shared, but that the competitive desire to be seen and validated online is powerful.

@Andrewgen_Receptors

The urge to post more and more provocative photos/content for the fleeting dopamine hit of emotional/sexual validation is strong and addictive. What’s worse is the feeling of abandonment when you don’t get the validation after putting in effort for a post too.

This makes so much sense and it’s absolutely what we’re seeing now. Internet validation might even be the strongest drug we have at our fingertips. And it’s so easy for women to achieve a high if they’re willing to abandon their dignity. But you’re absolutely right – imagine compromising yourself and then failing to get the attention you were after. Ouch.

@Andrewgen_Receptors

It’s not that much of a leap when bikini pictures get more ‘likes’ than modest ones.

This is true and sometimes women use it as an excuse to be as provocative as possible… as if they have no responsibility or control over what they post.

@Andrewgen_Receptors

I won’t allow my daughter to have social media for many of these reasons; it’s a gateway drug and she’s already pretty enough to cause trouble. If she gets her momma’s curves, it certainly won’t get better when she’s in her teens, and having access to a Megaphone/Jumbotron to put that on display is terrifying, to say the least.

This is wise. You and your wife sound like amazing parents. And I believe that dads are especially important when it comes to their daughters’ confidence. There was an article about this somewhere years ago. But if you’re a strong and encouraging presence in her life, chances are she won’t feel the need to seek attention from men online or in person. So you’re doing an amazing job.