FromStLouis
Superstar
Edit - Deleted to not confuse anyone, it's not meant as a questionnaire, just general discussion.
Discuss. Gems are encouraged.
Discuss. Gems are encouraged.
Last edited:
How have your workouts changed over the years?
- Thread starter FromStLouis
- Start date
Do you workout smarter not harder?
Absolutely
Have you upped the intensity? Scaled it back?
Both. I cycle different intensity phases and take active recovery days and a week off every 3 months.
What's the biggest thing you've learned over the years?
Overtraining is real and you get more with less. Shorter more intense workouts or 2 short intense workouts in 1 day are better than 1 long workout with sloppy sets/reps.
What about you?
FromStLouis
Superstar
I've learned I don't like working out, or maybe I don't like working out at home, as circumstances have made it so.
Either way I clock in at 30 minutes, no more no less.
Also circumstances and preferences have me sticking with the basics. Flat bench, dips, pullups etc.
That's also limits my workouts to 30 minutes.
So I'll split up a normal hour long workout over 2 days. I might try 2-a-days and see how I like it.
I'm messing around with training for frequency over fatigue or exhaustion. Hopefully lifting more total volume in the end.
Also the biggest lesson I've learned is I have to stay on top of it, and 30 minutes every other day, I find, better allows me to do that.
Son Goku
Great Sage Equalling Heaven
I must have not understood the assignment.
How can you up intensity but not end up working harder?
Why would I purposefully decrease intensity over time?
FromStLouis
Superstar
I must have not understood the assignment.
How can you up intensity but not end up working harder?
Why would I purposefully decrease intensity over time?
I was just trying to prompt general discussion.
i wasn't suggesting that you should scale back the intensity of your workouts or anything. I put question marks at the end of my questions.
Workouts aren't one size fits all, people have different goals and they're at different stages of their fitness journey.
Some people lift light some people lift heavy. Some people do bodyweight exercises.
I wanted to know what does The Butcher do differently today than say 5 years ago and do you have any insights from your years of training?
Do you find some things work better than others?
Son Goku
Great Sage Equalling Heaven
I was just trying to prompt general discussion.
i wasn't suggesting that you should scale back the intensity of your workouts or anything. I put question marks at the end of my questions.
Workouts aren't one size fits all, people have different goals and they're at different stages of their fitness journey.
Some people lift light some people lift heavy. Some people do bodyweight exercises.
I wanted to know what does The Butcher do differently today than say 5 years ago and do you have any insights from your years of training?
Do you find some things work better than others?
My post may of come off the wrong way but I legit couldn't understand why would anyone intentionally decrease the effort they put in the gym, unless they've retired from a sport and no longer compete. Other than that it seems like a backwards hustle to me, it'd be like going up to your boss and electing to take a pay cut at work for no reason.
To (try to) answer the topic:
- My workouts haven't changed over the years. I haven't decreased or increased the intensity of my workouts, I've always lifted as heavy as I possibly could at that point in time.
- I've always based the workouts around lifting and based the lifting around barbell movements. I've hit lifetime PRs on at least 4 barbell lifts no less than once or twice a year since I've started and haven't suffered any major injuries *knock on wood*.
- Cardio/conditioning work is done as energy in reserves/recovery allow; my body composition has remained relatively the same and my basal metabolic rate has gone up every year since 2015 when I started tracking it.*
(*My metabolism is GOAT status so diet is less important for than training; YMMV.)
A couple of things I've noticed since I started working out:
- The folks that make fitness a chore or treat it like a tertiary hobby either fall the fukk off completely or end up having mediocre results (they look flabby, lift hoe weights, can barely pass their fitness tests, etc). The folks that make training a lifestyle end up being the once that are either lifting the gym, are brolic/shredded as fukk, can run marathons while 8 months pregnant, etc.
- Having a specific goal is not important or even necessary to make great progress. As long as you show up and put in work, you'll be better off than the majority of folks that don't.
- Consistency is key. An old head at work put me on to this and I've made a personal mantra of mine both inside and outside of the gym.
- The hardest lift of all is getting your ass up off the couch but you don't get participation points for showing up and going through the motions though.
- Strength is a skill. The random gym people that stare or comment on weights I lift outside of competition don't seem to realize that you only get to that point and go beyond it (strength-wise) by practicing being strong.
- Very few people are fat because of medical problems. Most people that are fat are simply overeating for their current level of activity, or basically outkicking their body's metabolic coverage.
- Most coaches/trainers at commercial gyms are incapable of getting folks the results that they want. Most people that sign up to work with these coaches/trainers do not currently have the requisite level of motivation to achieve the goals they want.
- Compound lifts >>> isolation movements, especially for folks with limited time, regardless of your specific goal. I've found they just work better to me.
FromStLouis
Superstar
I legit couldn't understand why would anyone intentionally decrease the effort they put in the gym
Well, there are some people that don't believe in training to failure so that they can train more frequently. I can see that helping with them staying consistent.
Again, not trying to argue what's better, was simply just interested in hearing different perspectives. Thanks for yours.
Son Goku
Great Sage Equalling Heaven
Well, there are some people that don't believe in training to failure so that they can train more frequently. I can see that helping with them staying consistent.
Again, not trying to argue what's better, was simply just interested in hearing different perspectives. Thanks for yours.
I don't train to failure either...
FromStLouis
Superstar
I don't train to failure either...
Neither do I. I found it too difficult to recover and it screwed with my motivation. I was waiting around, laid up, longer than I'd like to.
Def prioritizing warming up and mobility more.
Utilizing supersets and doing more Wod style training for work capacity and conditioning (amrap, emom’s) and just being less dogmatic about training in general.
Utilizing supersets and doing more Wod style training for work capacity and conditioning (amrap, emom’s) and just being less dogmatic about training in general.
African_brehda
Superstar
Much hasn’t changed, all I can tell you is, overtraining is blown out of proportion.. but then again I’m a young breh. I need to do a LOT of volume before I feel anything. Before I bench max weight for 3x4, I’ve probably gone 12x4 on multiple weights
Diet is very important for me, since I easily lose weight, I actively have to make sure I eat more.
you don’t need motivation, you just need enough discipline to get to the point where you actually feel sick when you miss a workout
I strongly believe feeling comfortable when you train is very important. I feel like shyt with morning workouts, nausea, puking if I go too hard 4pm onward workouts have me feeling like the strongest person in the world.
@The Butcher is right. Most trainers don’t know what they’re doing, especially when it comes to training women.
Diet is very important for me, since I easily lose weight, I actively have to make sure I eat more.
you don’t need motivation, you just need enough discipline to get to the point where you actually feel sick when you miss a workout
I strongly believe feeling comfortable when you train is very important. I feel like shyt with morning workouts, nausea, puking if I go too hard 4pm onward workouts have me feeling like the strongest person in the world.
@The Butcher is right. Most trainers don’t know what they’re doing, especially when it comes to training women.