Why your homebrew routine is (probably) bad

[dawn16]

@kerrylog Could you say more about #4? If I'm not training consistently every day, it's nearly impossible for me to keep up the habit. 3x a week is a failure for me, but 7x a week I could do.

 

[thyatira]

@dawn16 Some food for thought. If you're training to complete and utter failure your not going to be able to train daily. You're not getting enough rest for your muscles to repair /grow.

Like the daily deadlift post someone linked, the lifter made minimal increases to the exercise every week if he didn't struggle, so he was increasing intensity but only slightly. That can apply to nearly any exercise.

 

[dawn16]

@thyatira Thank you for the thoughts, but I'm not training to failure, I have ADHD. Habits are very hard to create and upkeep unless they happen at the same time every day.

 

[thyatira]

@dawn16 I know how that goes. As long you're doing progressive overload that's small enough to not fully tax you, you'll be able to hit daily volume.

I remember doing some 30-day Russian boxer pull up routine, which was interested/fun.

 

[ari3l654]

@kerrylog Thanks for your caveats/additions. Bt way of example to your point #2, I've noticed that I get visibly bigger a lot faster with lower weight/higher reps, but I get mechanically stronger a lot faster with higher weight/low reps.

 

[kerrylog]

@legatichristi About the first point: Yes, you may have a specific issue with a specific exercise, but exercise selection could help instead of another program entirely

Second point: I mostly agree on more technical movements, but most (dips, chins, push ups...) are pretty easy to get down and push it if you can in higher reps

Here is one of my favourite posts on fittit (link), it's only deadlifts, but they are famous for being very taxing and OP could pull it off. I don't personally know any program that is fullbody 7 days a week, though, but there are tons of people that do train everyday things like chins, dips, abs... and they keep making progress

 

[legatichristi]

@kerrylog I agree on all counts - that deadlifts post is super cool. I think a lot of the street workouts people with daily chins/dips/etc. are advanced lifters that really know their way around their body (so was deadlift guy - he was doing like 2x my max daily). I think it's a doable program, but I wouldn't recommend to beginners.

 

[terrydg7]

@rowanda Weighing everyday may put a bit too much emphasis on weight over strength/ability to do more and more advanced moves/overall health/etc. I think weighing once a week is enough, because even with the controlled conditions (just woke up, after bathroom, before ingesting anything) weight will still fluctuate (heavy dinner/high sodium the night before/etc), so there needn't be so much focus on weight in the first place.

 

[rowanda]

@terrydg7

Weighing everyday may put a bit too much emphasis on weight over strength/ability to do more and more advanced moves/overall health/etc

weighing in will not do that. having the wrong mindset will. more data is just more data.

even with the controlled conditions (just woke up, after bathroom, before ingesting anything) weight will still fluctuate

it will, but the only way to know whats a fluke or not is to know your 7/15/30/90 day trends, and look at rolling averages. if you only weigh in weekly, you have no way to know if its a fluke or not. with daily weigh ins, there will be abnormal days, but they will be easy to spot. thats why we weigh in daily. as i said, dont obsess over the daily weight the moment you are on the scale. its data being collect -so that- you can discern what is or isnt a fluctuation.

 

[amcelveen09]

@rowanda The point being that fluctuations in weight happen and the actual amount of weight lost day to day is so small that daily weighing can put you in the wrong mindset.

Look you’re free to weigh daily if you want. But if trends are what you’re after, weekly/bi-weekly is better, especially if you’re struggling with the mental game. Also, it’s important to combine your weekly weigh ins with measuring yourself at multiple points with a tape measure and calipers. Weight alone, especially daily weighing, is telling you only a little of the whole story. I don’t disagree that collecting varied data at consistent intervals is important, though.

 

[rowanda]

@amcelveen09 you are more likely to be misled by fluctuations if you only weight weekly...because you have no idea if thats your true weight, or the spike or the valley.

weighing daily eliminates this. you see the rolling 7 day average and know exactly which data points are the outliers.

 

[daveisonthisforum]

@rowanda Weighing myself is so stressful. Even though I recognize that it isn't a true measure, I can't help but feel disappointed.

I made a decision to weigh myself fairly infrequently and only log the drops. Idk why this feels better, but it somehow does. Almost sort of like anything higher isn't a true weight.

Google Fit with a 7 day average might actually be helpful here in smoothing out the fluctuations.

 

[rowanda]

@daveisonthisforum

Weighing myself is so stressful. Even though I recognize that it isn't a true measure, I can't help but feel disappointed

i can empathize. i was getting a consistent 2 pound loss per week. i hit the calorie floor and had to add cardio. i decided walking was for me. i built up my ability to walk distance up to 9 to 12 miles/day or around 50 miles a week. my weight loss was still stalled. imagine my frustration...at the calorie floor, walking 3-4 hours most days, being sore/exhausted...and the scale isnt moving? what the fuck, right?!?! like wtf else am i supposed to do? u gotta be kidding me!

then it hit me...my quads were getting super strong. bigger muscles weigh more. i was retaining water my body was flooding those muscles with to repair them. after several of those 12 miles nights with sufficient rest days and protein, its a whole new ball game. i can easily do 10 miles with no soreness or muscle fatigue. i still might be low energy after a long walk...but theres no pain/soreness. after the muscles repaired, my body released a lot of that water, and some weight i felt i was 'due' came off. quick! and that was super rewarding. now my legs are awesome calorie burning tools. i just go explore my neighborhood, jam to tunes, think,...and the pounds are falling right off again. im actually within days to 2 weeks to hit my weight loss goal, then im going to bulk on gymnast rings.

stick with it. the formulas work. if the numbers dont add up, theres usually a hidden reason. accepting the spikes and valleys is just being real, just like choosing to lose weight to begin with. its nothing to feel bad about, in fact quite the opposite ! ! !

 

[dawn16]

@rowanda Weird amount of specific emphasis on weighing in. If it gives you a psychological boost, it’s worth it, but I don’t find it as useful.

Weight is a data point, but data is only as useful as what you use it for. It’s very useful if you’re cutting for competition or to make weight. Otherwise, I use performance and the mirror a lot more. Scale is good for monitoring broader trends over weeks to make sure you aren’t gaining or losing too quick. I also find that dieting becomes much more autopilot with experience, and large fluctuations don’t happen anymore.

 

[stevenherb]

@dawn16 Yeah the scales aren't everything, I have found it demotivating at times too, stepping on expecting a change and not getting the results.

 

[dawn16]

@rowanda Just rmb if you're sick progress is slower.

Took me 6 months to gain 1kg thanks to my messy digestive system. Give it time

 

[legatichristi]

@rowanda Lots of great advice in here - I think that building routines is kinda the linchpin, and you have some really good ideas on how/why to do that.

 

[dawn16]

@legatichristi There's lots of great information in this thread, but dude, your entitlement and arrogance is crazy.

Makes me want to train differently just to spite you.

 

[elissa2013]

@dawn16 This is why if I ever start working out in earnest, I’m literally not following any routine or telling anyone that I’m doing it.

Because EVERYONE takes issue with your workout.

This workout guy I know, huge into it, told me “all you do is front crawl swim? You’ll never get anywhere with that”.

Yep, went from swimming 25m and needing a break to swimming 2000m for 45 minutes straight because it’s “nothing”.

Exercise isn’t about working out and feeling better, as far as I can tell. For people who exercise, it’s about smugly telling people that their routine is better than your own. It’s so so soooooo exhausting.

Edit: worse to better, I’m a dumb

 

[davidcave1]

@dawn16 I don't have enough knowledge to really comment on their info but I 100% showed up to see people react to the inflammatory nature of the post.

Maybe that's the point, got people interested at least.