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

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Anyone ever used one of those meal services like Blue Apron? I start classes again soon and I was wondering if it would be worth it to have that shit at home to eat and not have to worry about. I am absolutely clueless about cooking unless it concerns eggs or sandwiches lol. I'm beginning my second bulk cycle this fall so I'm not too concerned about going above a caloric limit (ballparking it at 3100-3200 per day hopefully) but mostly focusing on getting 200-210g of protein in my diet. Or do I just learn how to cook or keep getting shitty cafeteria food? Any suggestions are appreciated! Excited to finally up the calories again after a long summer.
 
Anyone ever used one of those meal services like Blue Apron? I start classes again soon and I was wondering if it would be worth it to have that shit at home to eat and not have to worry about. I am absolutely clueless about cooking unless it concerns eggs or sandwiches lol. I'm beginning my second bulk cycle this fall so I'm not too concerned about going above a caloric limit (ballparking it at 3100-3200 per day hopefully) but mostly focusing on getting 200-210g of protein in my diet. Or do I just learn how to cook or keep getting shitty cafeteria food? Any suggestions are appreciated! Excited to finally up the calories again after a long summer.
In my experience they're way overpriced for the convenience they provide. Basically just pre-portioned ingredients delivered with a recipe anyone can easily look up online, but priced at a premium because of zoomer culture lootcrate fetishism.

I suppose if I had to play devil's advocate I'd say that the main advantages are (1) you typically won't have leftovers lying around in the fridge forever (and eventually being wasted) due to the portioning, and (2) you'll have some amount of variety in your diet, if that matters to you.

These aren't truly advantages though because once you start cooking for yourself you eventually learn to gauge how much you need to make and, more importantly, how to make it faster and more efficiently.

Not having to go grocery shopping is a disadvantage because believe it or not picking out groceries is a useful life skill that will also help you save on costs, and with the abundance of places offering delivery services these days, lack of access to a store is no longer a valid excuse.

Cooking is of course an essential life skill as well. If time is a concern for you then you could start by learning meal prep and making large batches at a time which can then be frozen after prepping and thawed at meal time. Plus, this way you can definitely plan for and manage your macros better. Sure, it'll probably require some reusable food containers as well as freezer space, but otherwise it's rather accessible and uncomplicated. I started years ago with a recipe for easy slow cooker burritos, but nowadays I just shove stuff into an Instant Pot, which is the epitome of "set and forget" cooking. There is a wealth of knowledge on the internet and an abundance of technology that make the learning process very simple and painless, so my advice is just to jump in and get to it.
 
Anyone ever used one of those meal services like Blue Apron? I start classes again soon and I was wondering if it would be worth it to have that shit at home to eat and not have to worry about. I am absolutely clueless about cooking unless it concerns eggs or sandwiches lol. I'm beginning my second bulk cycle this fall so I'm not too concerned about going above a caloric limit (ballparking it at 3100-3200 per day hopefully) but mostly focusing on getting 200-210g of protein in my diet. Or do I just learn how to cook or keep getting shitty cafeteria food? Any suggestions are appreciated! Excited to finally up the calories again after a long summer.

They seem unnecessary. You're literally still cooking the dish so being a dumbass at cooking doesn't justify the purchase. You can order grocerys online in most cities and you don't need their needless rare ingredients.

Learn how to make bakes, casseroles, and soups. Easy as shit.
 
https://youtube.com/watch?v=2GQmlZHNA28
They seem unnecessary. You're literally still cooking the dish so being a dumbass at cooking doesn't justify the purchase. You can order grocerys online in most cities and you don't need their needless rare ingredients.

Learn how to make bakes, casseroles, and soups. Easy as shit.
Cosign this.

A brutally simple high protein diet plan for those limited on time, which I'd relied on whenever I'd engaged in a cut and had zero expendable time for cooking fancy dishes or was on the move/transit:
  • Beans (whatever you fancy) + fresh vegetables (whatever you fancy)
  • Blended meal replacement shake (oats, whey, milk, stevia, peanut butter, fruit of your choice - Alternatively, add a banana and cocoa powder for a chocolate peanut butter shake)
  • Protein bars (homemade preferably; you can freeze them, last weeks)
  • Dehydrated meats (beef or chicken jerky usually) with Tabasco sauce and some fruit
  • Slow cooker meals (prepared enough to last three days)
Never needed to spend more than 15 mins each morning prepping everything for the day ahead.

Never had any issues hitting my macros (eg. at least 1g/lb BW protein) and calories.

IMHO, a bit of planning completely undercuts the virtue of these meal services, especially as you'll make everything per your personal taste on the day/week.
 
Greatly appreciate the feedback everyone. I've decided to take the plunge and learn how to cook and make my own simple stuff. Will probably help me save a ton of money in the long run as well. Feel supremely retarded for not learning sooner, but better late than never I suppose. Thanks again everybody :)
 
Just got back to lifting after a 4 month hiatus due to an injury. Muscle loss is 4 real, lesson learned. Lost a lot of size and my numbers are looking rough. Nice to have a challenge though.
Resistance bands are great for rehab. Month on those with daily stretching changed my life.
Glad to be back, bros.
/blog
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most of my fitness is biking but I have some bitch pussy weight like a 5 or 10 pound thing and dick around with it a bunch and I sprouted mad core shits a few years ago when I went full standing desk and hindu squats
I was helping some irl nerdbros with one of the circle moving
holy fucking shit it was hell
so much shit was like them all "uhhh... yeah.... I dunnooo.... we could probably load it onto this thing ... " at which point I'm like "okay guys get the next box on deck I'll get this on the truck" and just solo the bitch
 
With China coof mostly behind us, active with my alma mata, I can get free gym use (for how much I donate I damn well should get it) . I started Rowing on the Rolls Royce of them, a Concept 2.

I never have rowed before and damn, I suggest this, it's clearly now a power lift etc but I think my pecs hurt worse than a FTM tranny ffs. Rowing, does hit almost all the body, including the legs. I am still not smooth and have much to learn, but if you want some "light" weight and great cardio I suggest trying it.

Bad rowers are the big gay, avoid.
 
The gyms were forced to close earlier this year due to the chink virus (up until then it was only a "recommendation") so I went for 3 months without lifting and boy howdy did it throw my whole life out of loop. Yes, I did some home exercises and went for a lot of jogs, but it's just not the same.

Now it's been a few months since they re-opened and I'm still struggling to get back into the rhythm. Every time it's time to go to the gym feels like the first time in months, I'm just not getting that sense of regularity and habit back. Shit sucks, totally wrecked my sleeping pattern and overall productivity too. It's like I've gone back years of general "self-improvement".
 
The gyms were forced to close earlier this year due to the chink virus (up until then it was only a "recommendation") so I went for 3 months without lifting and boy howdy did it throw my whole life out of loop. Yes, I did some home exercises and went for a lot of jogs, but it's just not the same.

Now it's been a few months since they re-opened and I'm still struggling to get back into the rhythm. Every time it's time to go to the gym feels like the first time in months, I'm just not getting that sense of regularity and habit back. Shit sucks, totally wrecked my sleeping pattern and overall productivity too. It's like I've gone back years of general "self-improvement".
Same bro. I have a friend that I lift with 4 times a week after work, so that has been helping me stay accountable. When I was unemployed I was lifting 7 days a week and had perfect diet and consistency. But doing anything is better than nothing. It's all about trending back to where we were. Habits take time to (re)form
 
I literally think I tore a pec. What the fuck. I don't know exactly how it happened since I played Rugby on sat morning so got tossed around a bit but since Sat afternoon my left Pec hurts like a post work out feel and 0 strenght. I did 3 pull ups and my left side just failed out. It's strange and I am not happy camper. Any ideas what it could be ?
 
Couldn't complete my squat set earlier today; it felt like my taint was trying to explode out of my body. With no additional weight, it's perfectly fine and there's no pain or discomfort whatsoever, so hopefully I haven't fucked something up.

I also concluded that I'm probably not going to be on a beach or anywhere where anyone might see me shirtless for the rest of the year, so lean bulking is out and "eat everything in sight" bulking is in. I did GOMAD a few years back and had pretty great results, so I may try that again.
 
Isn't the belt mainly there to increase pressure, not to support your back? I've only been using the belt for the heavy working sets above 315 lbs for squats. Not because of my back, but just to increase abdominal pressure.
Never actually used it for deadlifts, nor straps.

Also, 30-45 minutes is fine for a good workout, depending on what you're aiming for. With high intensity you can be done quite quick. 45 minutes including light warm up and cool down and stretches should be fine. It's actually what I'm currently doing for the most part.
The pressure IS the support. You initially tighten your core to 'support' your muscles, the belt puts an extra layer of support and tightness around that. The belt is like a solid backing to keep your core muscles from blowing out, and more importantly, it maintains pressure in areas that you may lose tension in. If you're working close to your limit, all it takes is a a twist or wobble to get loose and get fucked up. Just putting a lot of strain on can do the same thing. Think of the belt like an extra tough layer of muscle that doesn't loosen up. I have to reiterate that I've almost never seen serious lifters work beltless, and I'm talking about competition guys and trainers.

You must have some kind of magic gym setup because I just can't see how you'd fit warmup stretch, weights, and post stretch into 45 minutes, never mind 30. I superset my routines, so usually 6-8 completed exercises (~5 sets each) and no real rest periods. By the time you've warmed up and handled 6 different pieces of equipment 5 times each, put them away/wiped them off, walked back and forth, maybe refilled the water bottle one time, it's about an hour. If you're changing plates and doing big squats/deads, sets can take even longer. Almost everyone I work around spends upwards of an hour, more often 1.5-2 per session. Some of them may waste time, but I don't, and by the time I post-stretch, it's usually pushing an hour and a half. The Strength/Conditioning camps and Crossfit trainer routines I've seen personally also run 1 hour programs.

Couldn't complete my squat set earlier today; it felt like my taint was trying to explode out of my body. With no additional weight, it's perfectly fine and there's no pain or discomfort whatsoever, so hopefully I haven't fucked something up.

I also concluded that I'm probably not going to be on a beach or anywhere where anyone might see me shirtless for the rest of the year, so lean bulking is out and "eat everything in sight" bulking is in. I did GOMAD a few years back and had pretty great results, so I may try that again.
If you're not noticeably fucked up afterwards, it's usually just strain (overwork). My back or shoulder will sometimes strain and it makes itself known but isn't actually injured. Sometimes it's a stabilizer muscle, I've had a few stabilizers that pinged really hard under load but were basically OK afterwards, and I was mostly able to work around them in the following days. Eventually if you reinjure them though you might have to leave the specific exercise alone for a few weeks. ALWAYS stretch a lot, really go for range of motion, try to look like a yoga weirdo. I've also found it beneficial to quickly foam roll and bust a stretch or two between sets of really heavy squats/deads.
 
ALWAYS stretch a lot, really go for range of motion, try to look like a yoga weirdo. I've also found it beneficial to quickly foam roll and bust a stretch or two between sets of really heavy squats/deads.
Seconded. Cat-cow pose, cobra pose, downward dog pose. All the animal names sound fairly ridiculous (and they look it too), but trust that they work wonders for your mobility and flexibility, which actually accounts for a lot in terms of overall fitness.

For instance: I haven't been to the gym since the pandemic began, but I've tried to keep a short (5-10 minutes) daily mobility routine. Since the beginning of summer I've been doing various outdoor activities (hiking, climbing) with some gym buddies here and there and even without having stepped foot in a gym in almost 1.5 years I still felt pretty fit and limber, whereas my friends who don't stretch seemed to have a tougher time.

As for foam rollers, I have one from my time in the gym but I'm not sure I actually know how to use it. What are you supposed to feel when rolling? Is it muscle knots going away?
 
The owner of my workplace brought a bunch of his weightlifting equipment in and has it set up in a back area for employees which is pretty fuckin awesome. He's a 71 year old guy who used to be a powerlifter I think? I did some kind of competitive lifting and was complaining about how strict some of the rules were regarding how you have to perform the actual lift- But he has a bench for preacher curls and was showing me how to do them. Last time I did one was in high school when my dickhead P.E teacher screamed in my face for not being able to lift the bar from that position! I've been lifting 3 days a week for 2 years and my preacher curl was pretty terrible, but I'm going to keep doing it each shift and improve. I want to add more lifting days in the week anyway, I'm stoked that I have the opportunity to get paid for doing it, lol.
 
Couldn't complete my squat set earlier today; it felt like my taint was trying to explode out of my body. With no additional weight, it's perfectly fine and there's no pain or discomfort whatsoever, so hopefully I haven't fucked something up.
Huh. Back pain. Leg pain. But taint pain? That's new. You might wanna run to a doctor, bro.
 
I've honestly had the best/most effective workout of my life purely with just a few sets of kettlebells and bodyweight. My routine is pretty simple for strength, functional movements, and general hypertrophy. It gets me in and out quick, compounds work a lot of muscle groups, and you just feel badass holding giant bells on yourself. I take very minimalist approach to fitness.

SS=done right after another. AMAP=As many as possible(with good form ofc)

Monday(Upper Body Strength Focused)
Kettlebell clean & press 5x5 SS Pull ups 5xAMAP
Push Ups 4XAMAP SS Kettlebell Rows


Day 2(Lower body)
Kettlebell Double squat5x5
Kettlebell Swing 100+(in as little sets as possible)
Turkish get ups 3x1(each side)

Day 3(Upper high reps)
Dips 5x10-15 SS chin ups 5xAMAP
Kettlebell Snatch50+(in as little sets as possible)
Bodyweight Rows


Day 4(Lower body)
Kettlebell Double squat4x12-15
Kettlebell Swing 100+(in as little sets as possible)
Turkish get ups 3x1(each side)

The routine hits all the major muscle groups. Chest, shoulders, arms, back, legs. Great functional movements with swings, get ups etc

I also dude boxing two times a week for fighting/cardio.
 
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