Neuro Typing: Wish I Would Have Known This My Entire Life

[jebrady03]

I’ve only recently come to understand 90% of what’s in this article about myself. Unfortunately, I just read this article TODAY! Apparently, I’m a type 1…

I get bored as hell with most workout programs and my workout program right now is an incredibly complex one I put together myself based on numerous articles on T-Nation catering to natural lifters. It has

• barbell
• dumbbells
• kettlebells
• bands
• pulleys
• blast straps
• weight vest
• weight belt

I’m doing zig-zag sets, myo sets, super sets, drop sets, upper/lower (“next generation”) days, splits with complementary muscles and also opposing muscles…

It was INCREDIBLY mentally stimulating putting it all together and I absolutely LOVE the program as it’s rare for me to repeat a workout (once or twice per month, max) and the program as written will last me 6 months.

I came to this program just by being honest with myself and knowing what was most likely to get me to roll out of bed every day and workout. I love that the article talks about how with Type 1, doing programs that don’t change much are demotivating. I said something similar recently (that if I had to do 5/3/1, Strong Lifts, etc., I’d give up). I need VARIETY and a lot of people have questioned why I just don’t stick with something and NOW I have an article to point to which provides an explanation as to why. Hell, Christian even nailed the diet aspect - my body HATES starchy carbs (I basically go into a 30-minute coma after eating them) and I do really well with fairly high protein and fat along with tons of fresh vegetables and moderate fruit intake in the morning.

I really wish I would have had someone like Christian to open my eyes to this a LONG time ago. Not only does this info apply to my when it comes to workouts, but it applies to me in every facet of my life. I have a job that has me in a new environment every hour or so (pharmaceutical sales). I bounced around in college from one focus to another to another and as a result, it took me 5.5 years to graduate. Etc.

Seriously Christian, thank you!!! I had a dozen “ah ha” moments while reading that article (minimum) and it was almost like getting a diagnosis where you KNOW there’s something wrong with you and no one can figure it out and they say it’s in your head, until someone does. And it’s liberating (same feeling I got when diagnosed with ADHD at 31 years old).

If anyone has the desire to see what the world’s most complex workout plan looks like, let me know and I’ll post it up haha!

[Leash]

From your post you seem more like a 2A, be sure to read thibs superhero article on his own site.

Are you very confident and have high self-esteem?

[jebrady03]

Sadly, I didn’t even realize he had his own site, I had only read the article on T-Nation which doesn’t break this into the subtypes. Now that I do, I’m looking forward to diving into it!

Had I read Thib’s site, I would still have chosen Type 1, but I’d go with subtype B. Much like astrological signs - no, I’m not going to say his stuff is complete garbage, I think the opposite, actually - I think we can all pick one or two things from each list of traits and say “that’s me” but the list from 1B has a LOT of me in it, more than any other list and those traits play a larger role as well.
Explosive personality: very calm most of the time; explode but a few minutes later it’s as if nothing happened - unfortunately, yes. Perhaps one of my biggest failings. Thankfully, I’m not violent, but I’m known for emotional outbursts when I get frustrated - and I hate it.

Seek out intense activities (thrill seeker) - definitely when I was younger. Less frequent now. But I still enjoy intense activities.

Constantly need to try new experiences - yes, but within reason. While I’m not a fan of rules for the sake of rules, I don’t do really stupid stuff.

High self-esteem/confidence - I’d like to say “no, I have an appropriate level of confidence”, but it’s probably undeservingly high

Very competitive (but not to the extreme of 1A) - I enjoy being the best not for accolades, but because internally, I like knowing I played the game the best (I’ve won more awards in my professional life than I can remember and was always a top athlete as well).
Very easy motor learning, great natural athletes - yup. In fact, two weekends ago, I had a Level II certified Strong First coach come to my house to teach me the basics of kettlebells as I had just bought some and had literally performed one set of 2-arm swings in my life and that was it. He’s a judo Olympic champion and has trained Olympic athletes as well and he kept asking if I had ever worked with KB’s before. I assured him multiple times that I hadn’t and he finally switched to saying “you’re a natural athlete” from there on out. I picked up everything he taught fairly quickly.

Fast, agile, explosive naturally - At least somewhat, yes.
Very good at multi-tasking - actually, no. ADHD strikes!
Impatient - absolutely.

Very “goal driven” - personal goals, yes! Goals given to me by someone else? “Hell no! And F you for telling me what I should strive to achieve!”

Lots of imagination - yup! It’s one of the reasons I’m so good at my job.

Can easily switch from relaxed to very active and get back to relaxed - definitely!

Is not affected by what others think of them, but still has consideration for them - I care very much for others - even strangers, but I don’t really care what people (family/friends aside) think of me (except for my job, which is VERY relationship dependent).

Very good under pressure - that’s when I do my best work!

Love to take risks - somewhat applies to me. Calculated risks? Definitely!

So again, more so than any other subtype he lists, 1B is me.

From 1A I’d say that “don’t deal well with authority” and “Want to do things their own way” and
“Love to convince others that they are right” are me.

From 2A “changing their personality depending on the situation” and “Procrastinate and do better work when they are last minute” (thanks, again, ADHD!) are most definitely me.

From 2B “Much better 1-on-1 than in a group; very good in that situation”, “Very emotional”, and “Give everything to each relationship, friendship, marriage, couple, family” describe me.

And from 3 “Great observers and information gatherers”.

Regarding introvert/extrovert, I’m actually both, but it’s situation dependent. If I’m around people I don’t know, I’m highly introverted - but can get by if it’s 1-on-1. And in large social situations, I don’t drink alcohol so there’s no coaxing me out of my shell with that. But, if I know most people or everyone, I’m VERY social and talkative, but I also enjoy listening as well.

So, I’m sticking with 1, and more specifically, 1B.

[Sigil]

Wow nice you sound like an ADHD savage lol.

Interested to see your program. Also physique/progress pics if you have 'em.

[jebrady03]

Sigil - I look NOTHING like your profile picture. In fact, I’m really just now (within the past month) putting all the pieces together and learning what’s best for me after literally years of doing all the wrong things. A lot of those “wrong things” led to injuries that would be my excuse to not go to the gym (which is in my garage) and just give up on eating reasonably healthy. So, take the progression pics with a grain of salt.
This was in December. About 8 months prior, I was closing in on 200 lbs (I’m 5’8" if you don’t pay a lot of attention to the actual measuring) and in this picture, I had dieted down to about 175 or so. I was working out a little, but still doing all the wrong things.

This was today at 171 lbs

We all notice changes in ourselves better than others do so what I see may not gel with what you see, but I’m finally starting to see traps, my shoulders and neck are a little bigger, arms look better, chest is wider and stands out more. Most of this has come in the last month or two.
The muffin top in the back is kind of atrocious and is definitely the most unsightly part of my body.
I made two different programs and I alternate them weekly. Here’s the schedule for the first program…

As you can see, I’m doing opposing muscle groups (isolation days) and complementary muscle groups (compound days) as well as two days dedicated to lagging parts + abs and a recovery day with stretching and foam rolling.
Here’s the program in full - each tab is a different day: Workout program - training for growth - Google Sheets
Weeks 2, 4, 6, and 8 are weeks where I do the “Push/Pull Split - The Next Generation” (found here: Push-Pull Training: The Next Generation). This is a 6-day per week program as laid out in the article and on the 7th day, I do the same recovery. This is where I’ve incorporated more of the “big compound movements” as well as kettlebell and blast strap work. I added a 7th set for lagging parts (calf work and face pulls). As this program repeats the same thing over and over, there are only 2 tabs that matter (the first two). The rest is just the template and notes to myself.
Here’s the template I follow:

Here’s that program: Push/pull variation - Google Sheets

So, again, week 1 is the first link, week 2 is the second link, week 3 is the first link, week 4 is the second link. I just have these printed and I use them to track everything.

Feel free to take a look and see how confused you can get!

[Sigil]

Thx impressive details (& spreadhseeting!) I’ll try your workouts sometime. happy gainz