Weightlifting for Kiwis - Discussion and support regarding the art of swole

[Just Hamsters]

What do people do to stay motivated? And do people find a morning or an evening (or lunchtime) habit easiest to stick to?

For me it's been morning, right at open. I admit it's an "eat the frog first" mentality, but also the gym isn't usually as busy at this time. It sucks some days, but it does help set the tone for the day.

As far as keeping the momentum going, I just try to mix it up whenever a routine gets too boring. As long as I targeted the general muscle group and leave tired, I call it a success.

But I'm no expert, 15 months in and I'm still too scared to touch the bench press lmao; it's all dumbbell presses for me.

 

[ducktales4gameboy]

Being there in the morning on days that aren't M-W-F is the easiest for me; I used to go at night and never got into deadlifting because the two platforms for heavy bar stuff were almost always monopolized. My main motivation for going is that it's the only time of the day I'm not stuck in front of a computer and/or dealing with someone else's bullshit. Going in the morning also guarantees it's done before any major family/work disasters can happen.

Momentum-wise, mixing stuff up is important and also make sure you're actually overloading yourself. If it's easy or you're able to do 8+ rep sets (or 15-20 on dips/extensions/whatnot that are mostly bodyweight) without a rest period afterwards, move up or you're gonna get bored fast (and also not progress).

 

[dick brain]

What do people do to stay motivated?

Fuck up your whole life until being active is the only thing you still enjoy.

And do people find a morning or an evening (or lunchtime) habit easiest to stick to?

I like to go at the end of the day so I don't have to worry about conserving energy, I can just burn myself out and go to bed.

 

[Overly Serious]

Fuck up your whole life until being active is the only thing you still enjoy.

Working on it.

 

[Bassomatic]

Getting routine helps keep motivation.

Still gimped from my bad PCL drama.. I can't tell you how hard not doing squats is I want to run so badly I hate running. I want to jump on chairs etc going nuts.

I'll be better soon and back to king of legs.

 

[Turkroach Couple]

Redditard found a way to make hitting the gym sound gay as hell

Spoiler: His running shoes

 

[Dean Pentel]

What do people do to stay motivated? And do people find a morning or an evening (or lunchtime) habit easiest to stick to?

Most of the people I know, including myself, train for a specific goal. Some folks want a respectable 5k time, others want 450+ dots at their next meet, a few I know are training for their first half century ride. If you have a goal you're training toward, then you're not simply going through the movements. This makes it easier to track your progress so you know if you're moving in the right direction.

Make a plan, be specific on what you want and when you want it by, and then commit to the process. Jump in with both feet and don't worry about if it's perfect. Get it done and then assess. Importantly, write stuff down! Progress is the reward that keeps everyone driven. Try it and you'll see I'm right.

 

[Bassomatic]

Jokes aside. I've mentioned I'm rehabbing from surgery. I blew my PCL. This ends peoples lives, mostly pros. I looked in the mirror, I'm no pro but no reason to be a fat loser.

I cleared off. I'm doing crunches pull ups etc. I still can't use legs for even deads etc. Fuck you, I can and will be pushing. I'm eating too much I admit but what ever. I'm pushing it. My motivation is I don't want to quit.

 

[thejackal2]

Jokes aside. I've mentioned I'm rehabbing from surgery. I blew my PCL. This ends peoples lives, mostly pros. I looked in the mirror, I'm no pro but no reason to be a fat loser.

I cleared off. I'm doing crunches pull ups etc. I still can't use legs for even deads etc. Fuck you, I can and will be pushing. I'm eating too much I admit but what ever. I'm pushing it. My motivation is I don't want to quit.

I've had plenty of knee injuries, worse actually, what week are you at post surgery? You had a graft surgery to repair it? What does the surgeon say about your recovery?

There's a lot of stuff you can do that will arrest muscle loss even if you can't lift heavy. I'd even help you put together some plans based on my experience after surgery if you want.

Anyways, I'm currently on a 4 day lifted my ass off stretch in a row and my entire body feels like it needs to just lay in an immersion tank for 24 hours or so. I did a drop set to failure on the chest press machine to complete my chest workout today. I can feel the T flowing through me at the moment.

 

[Iron Jaguar]

Sorry, let me rephrase. Would only doing presses every 3 days or so be enough for the exercise to benefit me? Or is that too big of a gap?

My nigger, the heavier you lift, the more time you need for recovery. Heavy bench press twice a week is more than sufficient.

 

[dick brain]

My nigger, the heavier you lift, the more time you need for recovery. Heavy bench press twice a week is more than sufficient.

Don't shame my socially acceptable self harming.

 

[Cum Laudely]

Anybody work calves? Because I'm curious how they can grow approximately on average with sufficient enough training.

 

[Johnny Salami]

So how do I actually do/know when to go up in weights? Many years ago, I used to go to an old school weightlifting gym ( no machines, no music, legit in a building the size of two shipping containers. It was Kino, but the place is long gone), and the coach taught me how to lift. My form is really good, but I never learned how to do weight progression. I would walk in, and he would go, " ok, today I want you to do X reps of y of ABC workout at DEF weight). Please explain it like I am retarded.

I either try to do more weight or more reps every day. For example. A fee weeks ago I hit 160 shoulder press for 6 reps. The next time I did 165 for 6. The next time I did 160 for 7. depending how many sets I do I try to get at least one where I do the same reps for more weight or more reps for the same weight. I rarely max out and nowadays and at best do a 3 rep max.

Also, don't use chunky trainers use some sort of flat shoe or just socks.

I've used chucks for years for squats and DL. I've seen people use wrestling shoes for a flatter effect if the gym doesn't allow no shoes. Just don't squat in running shoes.

 

[Iron Jaguar]

Anybody work calves? Because I'm curious how they can grow approximately on average with sufficient enough training.

Schwarzenegger said it takes 1000 hours to build calves. Personally, I've never bothered - I've always had very proportionate calf muscles, so haven't paid any attention to them at all.
I do think that regular, heavy, compound lifts will tend to work your calves anyway.

 

[HyperboreanRightsActivist]

 

[thejackal2]

I used to do quite a lot of weight-lifting but for a few years for reasons, I stopped doing it. I'm trying to motivate myself to get back into it. I feel great when I do it but I haven't really been able to stick to a routine and now it's been two months gone by not done any.

I've started losing weight so I really need to get back into the weight training just to preserve muscle mass! Though once the weight is down further, going for strength improvements again would be nice.

What do people do to stay motivated? And do people find a morning or an evening (or lunchtime) habit easiest to stick to?

Find what works for you. It's a cliche but it's true. You're always going to have times where you feel less motivated and that's fine. I also wouldn't get too caught up in numbers. A lot of people get "noob gains" (mostly training your neuromuscular system not building muscle) and then get discouraged when they aren't setting a new personal best every other week like they were at the start. If you're natty, and have been lifting for awhile, and are older than say 25-27 you're not going to be seeing massive week to week changes in your metrics, even lifting hard.

One thing I like to do is alternate what muscle group I want to focus on month to month. Keeps me a bit more organized and forces me to keep adapting and finding new movements. This month I'm really focusing on learning more cable lifts for back and shoulders.

 

[CowPox]

Which kiwi has the best confirmed physique?

 

[Cum Laudely]

Which kiwi has the best confirmed physique?

I'm nowhere close for overall, but for a particular body part. I might have the biggest calves here.

 

[DSP's Tax Lawyer]

Which kiwi has the best confirmed physique?

Patrick Tomlinson. Any other answer is wrong stalker child. Enjoy prison those who disagree

 

[TheButcherknight]

For me it's been morning, right at open. I admit it's an "eat the frog first" mentality, but also the gym isn't usually as busy at this time. It sucks some days, but it does help set the tone for the day.

As far as keeping the momentum going, I just try to mix it up whenever a routine gets too boring. As long as I targeted the general muscle group and leave tired, I call it a success.

But I'm no expert, 15 months in and I'm still too scared to touch the bench press lmao; it's all dumbbell presses for me.

I do mostly dumbell exercises as well but mainly that youre using more stabilizer muscles in these exercises.
So i don't have to wait for a bench press or smith machine to open up because a bunch of broccoli head 16 year olds are taking selfies at them for an hour.