And I’m taking a sentiment originally expressed with regards to dieting and applying it here,
“Be thankful for the opportunity to diet down. Being hungry on
purpose is a luxury that only the world’s wealthiest can enjoy.
Unlike those who are malnourished and starving due to life’s
circumstances, we bodybuilders have the choice to restrict food
intake. Does it really make sense to complain about one’s own
choice?”— Dr. Scott W. Stevenson
I’m slowly trying to teach myself that 90% of our circumstances are down to our own choices. I know it, I just don’t “know it”
True for those of us that have been blessed with decent beginnings. It’s important to balance self-accountability and opportunity. That’s not to say some people do not experience immense success despite a poor starting point, but their experience cannot always be replicated. If we adopt this generalization wholesale it may rather quickly devolve into a rhetoric around laziness etc. and I think it is important to acknowledge that.
I will however, to not make it sound as if I’m disagreeing with you (because I’m not), make the added remark that while this is true it not only offers a window into why one might not have accomplished X, Y, and Z to see what else one got as a trade-off.
For instance, I make a decent salary but some of my friends have more money saved than I do. And I could look at my outgoing expenditures and either omit certain expenses or swap for cheaper alternatives but guess where people want to go for a home-cooked meal? I invest in quality spices (good black pepper is expensive), and so on, and it brings enjoyment into my life. Arguably, there is a spectrum and a balance to be had. I could have “cheap” pepper for my daily meals but I haven’t opted for that trade-off.
I’ve also been able to ensure that some family members have more than they otherwise would, and that’s preferable to me than having a higher number in my account.
I’m aware that it’s not an absolute truth, and that the old adage “life isn’t fair” always applies. For myself it’s more of a way of aiding my mindset and enforcing accountability. It’s also a way of trying to avoid bitching and grumbling because I chose this, whatever this is, and I probably chose it for good reasons. The benefits of the choices you mentioned above are still there.
Sorry man.
To be fair to you, using “our” on these boards is probably appropriate. This is a smaller, tight-knit, community and so that term actually can mean quite a distinguished subset of people. We all have access to the internet and the luxury to train and eat it would seem. A lot of “us” even started as overweight and completely unfit, so in a sense even more fortunate than most.
It’s just that now, during these times, more than ever whenever one talks to another person in real life what usually comes up is whatever is in the media so disposition to deconstructing and evaluating statements critically is turned up to 11.
Had you written the statement as
I’m slowly trying to teach myself that 90% of my circumstances are down to my own choices.
I certainly wouldn’t have responded the way I did.
It appears to me as if there are terms that just bypasses our critical thinking defenses wherein “our” is one of them. We all have a sense of “us”, but more often than not that is a very specific bubble. Other terms I’ve noted to be disarming is “common sense”, and even just the word “because” followed up with a semi-reasonable explanation which doesn’t even have to be true, it just has to make it seem as if there is some logic at play.
No need to apologise at all, I was just trying to clarify why I feel it’s a useful mindset for me. I’m aware it’s not an absolute truth, just a good thing for myself to keep in mind for most of the people I encounter in daily life and certainly for myself.
Back
| Exercise | Saturday | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | Abs | 12-15 | 12-15 | 12-15 | Activation | |
| A | DB Row | 6@42 | 8@36 | 8R/9L@32 | - | 2m rest |
| B | DB Pull-over | 12@36 | 9@38(F) | 8@38 | 11@32 | 12/10/8/15+ goal. 3m rest. Almost heavy enough to tip me over! |
| C | Bent-over lateral raise | 10@40 (# I guess) | 6-8 goal | |||
| D | Bent-over BB Row | 5@75 | 7@65 | 9@60 | 5-8/6-9/9-12 goal. 3m rest | |
| E | Rear-delts machine | ~8@14/h (F) | 6-8 goal | |||
| F | Deadlift | 8@100 | 6@120 | 5@140 (not clean) | Good considering this was at the end of the session |
Changed the order a bit. Need a small rest before rows.
It’s pretty much fine now, and I’ve got no issues training-wise
Meadows dodges this by having the scale go over 10 in the high end, works pretty well.
Yeah, if you don’t like the current exercise, just switch it. Incline cable flies are something I personally like.
You’re absolutely Correct. Saying stuff in an ironic fashion is something I do a lot, and over the internet it may not come across as intended.
Glad to hear it!
And his RPE11 is when form breaks down. So his RPE10 is my RPE8 maybe.
I’ll see what I can do. The cables are a hot commodity where I train. I might also have to find a substitute for DB Pull-over or increase the duration of the stretch. I don’t really have much room for progressive overload on it until I increase my BW (I’m close to tipping over and I don’t have a partner that can anchor down my hips). Unfortunately the machines available to me that mimic the pattern all encourage using the biceps. Maybe a straight-arm pull-down and weighing myself down with a heavy dumbbell could work. It’ll look funky since I’m not hyuge, but whatever.
No worries mate. Please see this for context,
I get where you are coming from. I’ve expressed similar sentiments myself.
@danteism I’m amused you haven’t quoted this to me yet
“well I cant play basketball and I cant rockclimb if I do deadlifts on thursdays and I dont want to use wrist straps because”… WELL THAT SUCKS
What kind of weights are we taking about here? You could try straightening your arms a bit, pausing at the bottom or doing it on a bench press bench (head facing the wrong direction) so you can anchor your feet under the beams. Of course this way you can’t do it laying across the bench. (If you haven’t tried that, do)
That’s a good bit, and true
That’s too perfect! Damn
More than half BW. I already did pause the stretch and do it the way you describe with the bench which works okay on a few models. Others don’t really have beams to lock oneself into place with. Was pausing for a one count and can extend that to three
I know! Bullets fired, bullets hit.
That’s a good weight for pullovers. Got to put them in my program again, love that exercise.
Is there a way you could lock your feet under anything to keep from tipping over? My old gym had monkey bars (or what ever they are called) and a (broken) radiator you could do this with.
I suppose you’re using a decently low tempo on the eccentric as well?
3-5 count
I love it too. As said, my vertical pulling strength is… not in relation to the rest of me.
Have you considered also slowing down the concentric?
Not neccessarily a bad thing though. I’m trying to get back into weighted pull ups. Just found out that my gym PR at 19 years old would’ve been top 4 in the country (to this day)
Oh it’s only fast in intention. I mean, sure I could intentionally slow down but that would make for a long set. Never seen or heard of anyone incorporating pauses or 1+1/2 on DB-pullovers. Maybe I’ll have to do that. Nordic Pullovers.
You should have made it official back then 
Side-note: Liking this style of training. I’m tired in a relaxed kind of way while my muscles are radiating, not in a “I just worked 6 hours on the farm and humbly request death” kind of way which usually came after my workouts. It’s like I had a bath that made me sore, instead of an excessive amount of work. 
See, you’ve got a cool name for it and all! I’d give it a shot
Yep. Too bad I didn’t realize it. For the adult divisions the bar is set a lot higher (figuratively), but we’ll see how this goes.
That’s nice to hear! I’m playing around with a kind of odd setup now, if it feels good I’ll make a post about it.
Sounds great! Hopefully you can keep that up
Really liking this HIT-style workout. I go absolutely ape-shit on my working sets.
I don’t last remember a chest workout where my shoulder didn’t sound like this,
until now of course. I’m in less shoulder pain now after an UB workout than I’d ordinarily be in the middle of a normal day or an off-day even.
It also feels like I’m growing after the session. It’s hard to explain.
However, I need to find a way to recruit my biceps less on pulling movements. @danteism, any advice? Straps helped a little but I still managed to use a whole lot of biceps when the goal was to train lats (hammer strength lat pull-down machine).
Why would you want to do that? Do you find that your biceps are the limiting factor in pulling?
If they severly limit your ability to perform I’d try different grips and tempos (going too slow makes my biceps fatigue real fast), squezing the lats in the bottom position and perhaps pre+exhaustion with a movement that doesn’t involve biceps.
Or you could train your biceps so that they become stronger and stop being a limiting factor.
Also, consider trying other movements if nothing here works, could just be that the machine doesn’t fit you as well as it could