@lamnhi This reply demonstrates something you don't mention as much in your post (or are just pretty humble about): superhuman motivation. I was running with a friend tonight and we're in relatively similar shape (comparable heart rate at the same pace, run together often, etc.) but he flat-out smokes me at the very end when we're sprinting the last few blocks home. I'm sure it has something to do with lactate threshold and other stuff but more than anything he just has an insane drive that helps him push past the pain. It seems you do, too, and that's really not a small factor in getting shredded in such a short amount of time.
@louie44 People give up too easily when training gets hard. When you are doing pushups and your whole body isnt shaking by the last rep or two, then you arent training hard enough. When doing chinups and you cant do another rep if someone put a gun to your head, then jump up and slowly lower yourself down a couple more times.
@lamnhi This certainly is a great motivation for me. Started at calisthenics and in general at working out properly with 31yo, four or five months ago, and seeing your progress I realise that perhaps I'm not too late to archive something!
@missysylvester Eat properly, train hard, and get your sleep. Sleeping 7-9 hours every single night is extremely important for good results. Dont neglect sleep.
@lamnhi Can you post your typical training week when you were doing bodyweight? I see you really pushed it beyond failure but what about rest? How did you split all that volume?
@dawn16 Bodyweight only i probably did 3 push and 3 pulls per week, 1 day of nothing. Just work as hard as you can and be consistant. Consistancy and not getting injured is the key.
@lamnhi Thanks for the reply. Been training a bit less than you(~2 years), but it's very evident my progress isn't as impressive.
I've been doing 5-6 days a week no split with pretty high volume per week overall, so consistency and injuries aren't the issue. Two things I could change is split and pushing way more beyond failure, as opposed to your typical 1-2 last sets to failure. I've suspected for a while that training to failure and beyond in a single session is important for bodyweight training, just didn't know how far I should push and your post only confirms this. That being said I think I'm a hard gainer since I've been skinny my whole life regardless of diet. (Just posting this here to highlight there are other variables to this, maybe someone else finds this useful)
@dawn16 Impossible to be a hard gainer if you eat enough. Add in a pp&j sammich every day if you want to gain weight. If you still cant gain any weight and you want to, eat another one. 1 set to failure for bodyweight training is not enough. It is enough for barbell training depending on your training status and how heavy you are going. For example when i was doing squats late last year I thought I was going hard enough, but decided to do 225lbs for a true amrap with spotter bars for when i failed and hit the ground without risk of the bar crushing me. I got 19 reps before collapsing and crawling on the ground to my chair because my legs stopped working. that set of failure was WAY different than doing pullups or pushups to failure, my legs were in agony for 5 days. Keep that in mind, there is a very big difference.
@lilypond No and that is a thing i literally just learned about. Ive had puffy nips since puberty and it has been a pretty big burden on my self confidence. It still bothers me to this day 20-25 years later honestly. I had no idea what it was and only recently learned about it. It sucks and it has hurt my self confidence a lot for the last 2 decades. No im not juicing, and no i have no idea what my hormone balance is like. Ive been contemplating getting my testosterone and estrogen balance looked at. But the last thing i want is to be on HRT and sticking myself for the rest of my life. Im hoping its just leftover fatty tissue that will eventually go away if i happen to get lean enough, but i am afraid you are right and that its gyno. Its sucks and i think about it everyday.
@lamnhi Brother, if I can reassure you; I have seen gynecomastia a lot. You definitely don’t have it, rest assured. But if the looks of your nipples bother you, you can definitely talk to a health professional
