Masculine Excellence Requires Discipline

Training Training Logs
1551

Myself.

I mean, yeah my schedule is kind of fucked, but i find time to train during my long work days and i stay on target consistently these days.

My off days i get too complacent, miss training or go off diet.

If you want the deep dive, it’s that ive got a lot of motivation. Too much, in fact… because i push way too hard, read way too much, try to change my whole system, then feel burnt out as to why I’m stagnating.

I dont need red hot motivation that fizzles out after a few hours. I need a slow burning commitment, discipline, or consistency to keep me moving in the right direction.

Don’t get me wrong, in a lot of ways, i can move mountains in a few hours. But i cant take it one shovel of dirt at a time, and thats what i need here. Not a thousand cuts all over the tree, just a thousand in one specific spot until that fucker topples.

I don’t know how to take it one shovel at a time. It’s my biggest shortcoming at the moment… consistently pushing for growth (in all ways) when i don’t actually need to.
I do better when my chips are down, and right now my chips are more up than ever before.

I probably went too hard on the metaphors here.

5 Likes
1552

Haha yea that was pretty metaphor heavy.

Sounds almost like you need to de-prioritise lifting, that way you can just auto-pilot it, put the sessions in your diary, follow the diary, do the program through to completion and forget about it entirely outside of that.

Like you said run on discipline not motivation

2 Likes
1553

You say: “I recently began 10-15 minutes moderate HR cardio prior to training sessions.”

If your goal is to lose enough belly fat for your abs to show, bump your cardio up to 45 minutes. I have lost over 50lbs since January through diet and exercise - no drugs - and I attribute that at least in part to doing 45 minutes on a treadmill while wearing ankle weights 2-3 times per week.

1556

Woke up early, couldn’t fall back asleep.

MISS (fasted)

Warm Up: 2 mins fast jog
HR >130: 20 mins walk/jog
(no ankle weights)

6 Likes
1557

What?? Did you at least thrust your arms vigorously in the air???

3 Likes
1558

Negative, but i did some chair yoga afterwards to cool down the old bones.

1 Like
1559

Leg Day (Modified)
Wednesday, Oct 02, 2024 at 2:13pm

Hip Abduction (Machine)
“3010”
Set 1: 175 lbs x 21
Set 2: 150 lbs x 18 [Failure]
Set 3: 150 lbs x 9 [Failure]
Set 4: 150 lbs x 6 [Failure]

Sissy Hack Squat
“3010”
Set 1: 90 lbs x 15
Set 2: 0 lbs x 17

Romanian Deadlift (Barbell)
“Uni. Hamstring Rehab
3010”
Set 1: 45 lbs x 15
Set 2: 45 lbs x 10

Seated Leg Curl (Machine)
“Uni. Hamstring Rehab
3010”
Set 1: 30 lbs x 25
Set 2: 30 lbs x 25

Leg Extension (Machine)
“3010”
Set 1: 205 lbs x 14
Set 2: 125 lbs x 14 [Failure]
Set 3: 125 lbs x 6 [Failure]
Set 4: 125 lbs x 5 [Failure]

+15mins LISS

This is the first time my knees havent hurt during a leg day in 6+ months. No sleeves or wraps of any kind :muscle:

Quads are wrecked. Was walking like a baby deer on the treadmill afterwards.

RE motivation / Discipline…
Right now, I’m trying not to take the bait that my motivation bursts come in. I’m actively NOT following the motivation, instead I’m just focusing on discipline.

Might sound dumb, but taking the fun out of motivation feels more… right?

My motivation chases whatever is most interesting to me. That’s not always a good thing.

7 Likes
1560

Was just reading a post from a pro grappler (ADCC) who talked about how important it was for him to see his training as “appointments” sometimes to keep what he called “the romance of training” at bay.

3 Likes
1561

I like this. This is kinda how I see it. It’s not on my calendar but the time is blocked out every training day. I don’t schedule anything else within my scheduled training time. Has been working well for me for years.

3 Likes
1562

I think this is good. We can’t always be motivated. Especially when we just don’t feel like doing something. My motivation is the process. Used to be the end goal but that made me impatient.

3 Likes
1563

ha ha there was a lot in there. You often see very hard on yourself which in some ways I like because it can male you more accountable, but it can also lead down a different path of things don’t go well. Have you ever considered if you have ADHD or something similar. I am not a medical professional so certainly not giving a diagnosis but your description of having great focus to do somethings hard and fast and then less focus or motivation to jut take it slow and step things out, is something my son struggles with too. Just a thought mate.

1 Like
1564

True and True. I’m hard on myself because most of my goals in life demand that I become not just good, but great - and I mean that as more than just a platitude.

No worries, I’m diagnosed ADHD.

Boomers loved leaving their children in front of the TV or Xbox or social media for hours on end, then medicating them with amphetamines because they didn’t want to do school.
That’s my story, anyways. The worst of it, for me, has been the executive function impairment.

Less on the “why” and more on the “how to fix”.

I’ve cut out most cheap or “bad” sources of dopamine, so social media, video games, most TV, and recently I’ve been working to cut off porn too. Porn being by far the worst offender of cheap dopamine sources… shit’s hard when you’re exposed to hardcore porn sites before you even know what masturbation is. Cutting these things out of my life has been a huge benefit for me as someone with ADHD, but I imagine it is still a large benefit for anyone without ADHD as well.

An unsolicited word of advice: don’t let your kid(s) anywhere near social media, video games, porn, etc. They might be “square”, but they won’t be all fucked up like I was.

My next steps:
I’ll be experimenting with other ADHD meds because Adderall is a real bastard and its starting to feel pretty unhealthy to take. It helped me get through school, but I’m really hoping for something more… smooth on the focus-front.
I don’t really discuss this stuff here, but I’m happy to do so if you want.

5 Likes
1565

Thankyou for sharing that and glad you have a diagnosis and are working with a health professional, feel free to delete if you don’t want the info to stay on your log. I definitely hear your warning about social media and video games for kids with ADHD. My son loves to spend time just vegging out to what I call just rubbish content. I try my best to get him outside or doing other more meaningful activities but it is a constant struggle.

Do you think a training program that is more focused on specif strength goals, with competition in mind, may be more beneficial than the BB type of plan. A well thought out strength program may give more structure to a chip away at it type of progress and give some more direct feedback or ‘little wins’ along the way. This doesn’t mean you have to become a slob and not maintain or grow muscle, but the structure and maybe less focus on body image may be a way to keep more patient.

1 Like
1566

There’s nothing wrong with chilling the beans for a bit here and there, but a young boy needs to be working, IMO. Not for money, but for his own personal growth.
Reading.
Learning.
Getting stronger.
Getting tougher.

The gym can handle 2 of these things, and I believe intense exercise of any kind is doubly beneficial for anyone with ADHD. The Reddit sub /ADHD seems to agree to some extent.

I firmly believe that any men who aren’t doing these things as a lifelong pursuit will get chewed up and spit out by the world we live in.
Good news is it’s never been easier to be in the higher echelons of men.
Bad news is the barrier for entry is shrinking and has been for at least a decade.

Not to backseat parent or anything, but I wouldn’t be trying or suggesting or negotiating with my son to go out there and start cutting his teeth as a man. There is no time in his life that the people he loves will permit him to sit around like a lazy turd, and allowing him to do so while he is growing up is not setting the right precedent for how his life will be.
There are times to be lazy, and that must be earned. Just my unsolicited opinion.

Back on point:
Getting your son in the gym is likely to help his ADHD.
It’s also important to understand that a lot of ADHD is misdiagnosed, and misunderstood. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
The Disorder part means that there isn’t anything quantitatively wrong with us, it’s a behavioral disorder… meaning it can often be fixed the same way that folks with Autism Spectrum Disorder can be fixed. It just requires work.

  • Some people actually have fucked dopamine feedback systems.
    • This one cannot be easily corrected and will probably require medication.
  • Most people have fucked their own dopamine feedback systems by constant exposure to cheap dopamine inducing activities.
    • This can be corrected by removing the cheap dopamine rewards from their life or by “dopamine detoxing” for at least 30 days.
    • This 30 days is also the anticipated timeframe for porn “addicts” to reset their brains and break the addiction… if that timeframe seems oddly coincidental, its because it’s not a coincidence.

In either scenario, removing the cheap dopamine sources is the best way to move forward and work towards a normal life.
These dopamine rewards are there for a reason - to give you a reward for when you did something that deserves it… climbing a mountain, killing a lion, etc.

The cheap dopamine rewards that modern life surrounds us with, has desensitized us to these rewards so we have become lazier en masse.

Its a good idea, but I’ve tried it before and frankly IDGAF what my lifts are. I just want to look good naked. I still have to want the end result.

The only performance based goals I could see myself having - is strongman related. The competitions always looked fun. I mean, like an absolute shitfest, but fun… I think that makes sense.

BTW I’m happy to discuss any of these things offline or continue the conversation here. I’m a pretty open book.

2 Likes
1567

I haven’t got a huge amount to add to the conversation here, but I wanted to say thanks for having it an being open, these are issues that I personally struggle with, including a fairly extreme porn addiction from about the age of 12 until 26 (became a Christian and changed overnight) but in recent years the struggle has reared it’s ugly head again, and it’s definitely dopamine related, I struggle most when I’m tired, and when I’ve been using other cheap dopamine fixes (apparently dopamine drops lower than baseline after the cheap easy fixes and leaves you craving more/stronger). I use my phone excessively and that always exacerbates what I would say were ADHD like symptoms in myself (reading my school reports from pre-screen years makes me think I’ve always had these types of issue and I can also see it in my dad and my son, hyper focus is there as well).

Raising kids in today’s society makes me much more conscious of the issue, it’s a real challenge and one I was just discussing with my wife before I read this, hence wanting to say thanks for discussing, it’s important.

2 Likes
1568

Pull
Thursday, Oct 03, 2024 at 2:57pm

Lat Pulldown (Cable)
“Top set, backdown
3010
*different cable”
Set 1: 160 lbs x 16
Set 2: 140 lbs x 15 [Failure]

Straight Arm Lat Pulldown (Cable)
“Top set, backdown
3010
+30s extreme stretch”
Set 1: 70 lbs x 12
Set 2: 60 lbs x 11

T Bar Row
“Top set, backdown rest pause
3010”
Set 1: 90 lbs x 18
Set 2: 80 lbs x 13 [Failure]
Set 3: 80 lbs x 7 [Failure]
Set 4: 80 lbs x 6 [Failure]

Bicep Curl (Cable)
“V-Bar, top set, 3x drop set
3010”
Set 1: 80 lbs x 17
Set 2: 60 lbs x 15 [Failure]
Set 3: 50 lbs x 5 [Drop]
Set 4: 40 lbs x 5 [Drop]

Shrug (Smith Machine)
“Top set, backdown”
Set 1: 315 lbs x 18 [Failure]
Set 2: 275 lbs x 16

EZ Bar Biceps Curl
“Reverse Grip, rest pause
3010”
Set 1: 50 lbs x 21 [Failure]
Set 2: 50 lbs x 11 [Failure]
Set 3: 50 lbs x 7 [Failure]

+15mins LISS

2nd night in a row with poor sleep. Was feeling pretty beat going into this, but it was a really great session.

The girls will be out of town for a week or two; if anyone in the LA to Bay Area wants to get a lift in, reach out.
Andrewgenreceptors@proton.me

3 Likes
1569

Imma fly to california

And then we can get some of that A-Grade Tent Vagrant Fentanyl

1 Like
1570

If you have any questions about it, want to talk offline or anything, I’m happy to.

Even communities built around things like ADHD often have these things wrong. Most dont want help, they just want to have their struggles validated so they can keep being useless.
I know that sounds harsh, its supposed to. Modern therapy would rather tell you your feelings are valid and its your condition’s fault, rather than hold people accountable.

The porn stuff is usually a cope, in my experience.
There are exactly 0 times I’ve watched porn that i wouldnt have rather been getting laid or blown. Its always been to hide from negative emotions, or sometimes just because I’m bored.
Hell, the number of times I’ve turned to porn in the past because i was sexually rejected - or afraid of being sexually rejected - is mind boggling.

Learning to just accept these feelings for what they are, and allowing yourself to feel poorly without trying to hide from these feelings - is the best way to cope.

Pretty much every vice or sin are basically just bad coping mechanisms. I’m not religious at all, but they got this one 100% right.

4 Likes
1571

Apparently using ankle weights while on a treadmill is something you take exception to. Well, it worked for me with no downside, but it may not be for everybody. Here is an alternative:

1572

Wow… deep stuff. dopamine hunting