Gym rats

August

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Aug 27, 2018
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Are you feeling fat after Christmas?
Does your New Years resolution involve going to the gym?
Are you dead keen to share photos of how many plates you load up with at the bench?
Do you want to talk about macros?
Are you thrilled at the prospect of other Testies and randoms from the Internet looking at the photos you post of your quads?

If so, welcome home.
 

August

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Aug 27, 2018
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For me the two biggest things I need in order to maintain the motivation to get some exercise are:
  1. Routine
  2. Measurable goals
1. Routine​
I have tried the home gym in the past and this has some pros and cons. The biggest pro is the cost; once you've spent the initial money your ongoing costs are basically nil. You will never have to wait for equipment or deal with wankers on instagram. This comes with an issue which for me is pretty hard to get past - distraction. When I'm at home there's the wife, kids, social life, entertainment - all things which I'd rather be doing than picking things up and putting them down again. I will be fine for a few days at home but then will become distracted and my routine stops.

For me I need the ritual of waking up, getting gym gear on, and leaving the house to go somewhere for the specific purpose of exercising. If I don't go to a gym I won't train - it's that simple. Given the impacts to longevity of not getting any exercise, it's easy to justify $10 a week on gym fees.

2. Measurable goals​
Training for the sake of it is not satisfying, and the single best thing I can do is track progress over time. It is positive reinforcement and also lets me know where problems are. I use an app to track my workouts ( https://www.strong.app/ ), but a pen and paper works just as well.

In addition to tracking effort, it's also really useful to track your caloric intake and macros. An app like this ( https://www.myfitnesspal.com/ ) makes it really easy to identify what you're doing poorly, what you're doing well, and helps you make better decisions about food choices based on your goals.
 
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August

Space Marshal
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Aug 27, 2018
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August-TEST
The biggest thing stopping you from exercising is procrastination.

At the heart of it very simple - maintain an elevated heart rate to build your cardio fitness and pick up things which are progressively heavier to build strength. Your clothing brand, the supplements, the apps, the music, the *stuff*, is all largely irrelevant. You don't need anything more than a pair of shoes, t-shirt and shorts, and some water to drink.

It's easy to get into the minutiae of the amount of protein you should be consuming, the type of protein, how you should load when starting creatine, if you need fat burners, etc. Frankly it's all a distraction. What you need to do is just start exercising and get to the point where going to the gym isn't something you dread. Cardio always sucks. Leg day always sucks even though it's my favourite day. Meal prep always sucks. What doesn't suck is losing body fat, building muscle, looking better, and being healthier into old age.

And it all sucks less than a massive coronary episode at the age of 45.
 
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Ammorn

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Oct 14, 2014
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Ammorn
My new years resolution for the past 5-10 years was to make a new years resolution for the next year since I hadn't been making them, this time it will be to keep losing weight. I'm down 55 pounds and lost 9 pounds over all the Christmas meals and snack food.
 

Wolfy

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Apr 27, 2017
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WolfytheWarlock
I've got about 2 months of workouts planned currently, a decent mix of cardio and strength workouts mainly geared towards improving my Army Physical Fitness Test scores. I also try to plan out my meals at the start of the week to make it easy, usually taking a Thursday night to make room to eat out.
 
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August

Space Marshal
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Aug 27, 2018
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August-TEST
Yesterday I moved from my previous gym to one closer to home after a 2 month break. The closer gym is smaller and has less equipment but is 24 hours and I can actually get to it without a 45 minute drive each direction.

2 months off, started with legs, it’s hard to use the toilet today.
 
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Wolfy

Space Kitty
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Apr 27, 2017
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WolfytheWarlock
Yesterday I moved from my previous gym to one closer to home after a 2 month break. The closer gym is smaller and has less equipment but is 24 hours and I can actually get to it without a 45 minute drive each direction.

2 months off, started with legs, it’s hard to use the toilet today.
"started with legs" ...
 
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