I always take it a bit different. To me, they’ve already given up and just want to hear that it was the right choice.
Also possible. And in many cases, they gave up before they ever started.
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Whether you think you can or cannot- you’re right
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How many carbs per day? Could be a high cortisol issue.
That’s the thing imo.
Like, I’ve been through periods where progress was nonexistent, and I was so, so demotivated. I didn’t want to train and I didn’t want to care about my diet. Yet I kept doing both, sometimes going through the motions, but to my memory the thought of giving up never crossed my mind over these last (almost) 5 years.
Even the “easy way out” of deluding yourself into thinking that the deck is stacked against you is silly in my view. If what I want is to achieve my goal, then what good is it if I decide that I can’t reach it because “the universe doesn’t want me to?” How should that make me feel any better given that my goal is still there and I need to get to it?
To me, even skipping a workout is unacceptable unless there are very serious reasons (and even then, I’m just postponing it to a later, near date), because who am I kidding? I should be working towards my goal, not making excuses not to. So yeah, I think people that ever contemplate giving up (let alone going online bitching about it) weren’t serious about it to begin with.
Unless you are @T3hPwnisher on Deep Water.
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I can’t imagine I’m the only person that program had that effect on, haha.
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I mostly agree with you; it really comes down to priorities. If I’m honest, training barely clears the top 5 on my list of priorities. I love doing it, and it certainly makes the cut, but I will 100% skip workouts if they encroach upon the things I find more important.
EDIT
Having said that, I think that’s why it’s very important to be realistic with your physical goals and strategy to achieve them
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You are totally spot on with this. When reading through the forum I see this sometimes and I think to myself “what kind of answer are they looking for?” and then I realized half way through my posts that I was doing the same thing. The reality is that I love training and I won’t ever stop. Expressing that I was going to stop was more of me rhetorically venting to myself publicly. I do have to sit down and think about what my priorities are in regard to my physique and what I’m willing to sacrifice, or not, to get there. I appreciate all of the responses, the honesty and the criticisms. It’s the perfect time to re-evaluate going into the new year.
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Agreed, and I think there is no problem with not taking the gym seriously and acting accordingly.
But like you said, you need to be at peace with the fact that you aren’t gonna get very impressive results (save for outliers) if that’s the case.
The problem in my opinion is when someone isn’t serious about the gym and then goes online asking for advice and wondering why they aren’t progressing. Like, instead of “trying everything,” wouldn’t it get you further to just do the basic things that you haven’t been doing (as per “not being serious about the gym”) and see how much progress that brings in and of itself?
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One piece of advice I personally feel like giving about this is, when you want to get something done, don’t wait for the new year. Start today. No point in wasting time and new year resolutions never work anyways.
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Way to take me being a sarcastic dick in stride, dude! Now go to the training log subforum, make a log, and tag some people in it for help with nutrition and training. Seriously, would love to see you get those arms you’re after.
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No point in getting your panties in a bunch when what you’re hearing is truth. That’s a great idea. Thank you
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Agreed I was just saying it’s serendipitous timing. No point in waiting and losing 4 weeks of progress.
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Great attitude. Rarer and rarer these days from what is seen here.
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First that 15 year old kid and now this guy. What the hell is happening to the internet? I want my anonymous rage-monsters back!
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This has to be a function of either programming, diet, effort or recovery. I see a lot of people talk about spinning their wheels and not progressing despite training hard and eating right blah blah. But it’s bollox, they are missing something. Even an older worn out geezer like me can progress in some way every training block. It could be 1RM, rep strength, conditioning, muscle size, fat loss, there is always something that gets better.
The guys is see complaining about plateauing, mostly seem to be those focused on ‘building big muscles’.
The OP expected a significant gain in muscle size in a short time but at his bodyweight and with his training and diet it was just unrealistic.
For sure, I just didn’t know at the time. My point was that, despite the lack of knowledge and understanding of the reasons why I was plateauing, I didn’t let that hold me back from continuing to work hard, until I eventually figured some of that out.
This generally trumps all others in the pursuit of ones goals. Don’t lose this.
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I’ve mentioned this before but your attitude to life speaks absolute volumes. You have a very wise head on those increasingly buff shoulders.
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Thank you for your kind words, it means a lot to me