After one year, I've reached that point in weight lifting where I'm using blood flow restriction techniques to build muscles, and considering a home gym with a full power cage. Getting fit with year long thrice-a-week physical activity is probably the one thing I can be proud of in 2021.

That, and learning how to play the RAV Vast, and finally diving into sound synthesis, I guess.

For some reason, I still feel like a failure of a human being. My brain is stupid.

@ice thrice a week eh… I’ve really struggled to establish some exercise routine. I am inherently lazy af. I guess I just don’t want it enough? idunno. but years go by and my body is not treated too well and… /shrug … your post is a bit of motivation for me to care more :)

@amatecha Yeah, the hardest is to stick long enough to the plan for a couple of months. That's the average time needed to form an actual habit. After this, "motivation" is less important, the routine becomes a somewhat automated process.

The one thing that worked for me was to follow a one-month program, then another, then another... Check https://darebee.com if you don't know it, it's free, and I'm sure you'll find something to suit you.

@amatecha Nutrition is also pretty important if you want to see any progress. But I'd say the one thing to keep in mind is to take both workouts and nutrition slowly. Set little goals, make little changes, see what works, adjust slowly over weeks. It's easy to fail because you make sudden big changes to your lifestyle and can't stick to it.

@ice

The rhythm of such a routine was the only way I managed it.

@ice just stop reading what others are "accomplishing" all the time, doing nothing isn't bad

@RussSharek Yes, for me, it was really about setting myself temporal markers and stick to them until it became an automatism.

Now, I feel like I'm kind of addicted, but in a good way. It's funny to think that even on a bad day, when I'm not motivated at all to do my workout, I find myself already doing it anyway while still trying to find an excuse to not do it.

@albi Yeah, I totally agree. Doing nothing is perfectly valid, and good if you feel that you need it, it's part of the cycle. But even after many years, it's hard to free oneself from the productivity myth and feel good about doing nothing.

@amatecha @ice I know a very good motivation at least when it comes to weight lifting. Do like me and attend a national championship in olympic deadlift where nobody else shows up in your weight class.

yes... I was a national champion in deadlift. https://results.kraft.is/lifter/johannes-gunnars-torsteinsson

I am sorry, this is the only thing I allow myself to brag about because it's so hilarious.

@esi @amatecha Hahaha this is amazing :) Great job! And it's not bad, honestly I don't think I can deadlift that much yet.

@ice yeah, there aren't many visible role models unfortunately

@ice

I like thinking of it as a "ritual" rather than "addiction". Otherwise it feels very similar to what you are describing...a set intention made by a me that wanted a thing, and all I need to do is just stumble along the path now in progress.

@RussSharek Yes, it's clearly a ritual, and it sounds much better. I like how it implies that it has a personal meaning and a specific way to be done, while "addiction" is just something vaguely scientific and negative.

@ice @amatecha yeah I must say I was quite proud of myself. With that said I lifted more than I should had. I think my max was around 110 or 115kg but I shouldn't had. Some time later I went to a doctor because of some pain in the arms and guess what. I overdid it. Basically I was going to quickly up, with too little training/warmup per week. I live too far away from the gym (30 km) so I either had to quit or go more often per week. Sadly I had to choose to quit weightlifting. :(

@esi @amatecha Sorry to hear this, yeah, I see very well how it can happen. Maybe you could try to build a minimal homegym with a pair of adjustable dumbbells like Powerblocks though? The model I have is compatible with a bar accessory, you can turn it into a barbell (but yeah, total weight is quite limited, around 110 kg I think, and of course you’d need a rack and a bench for big lifts, and it can get pricey rather quickly) Kettlebells are also worth looking into.

@ice i forgot to respond before, but thanks for the tips! I was checking out darebee, that’s pretty interesting! Indeed, I’m sure there should be something suitable. I’ve also been scouring YouTube for shotokan-centric workouts I can follow, tho i have only tried one or two thus far haha

@amatecha I’m glad if it helps! I think they also have various workout sheets inspired by martial arts, maybe some of these can work with the videos you’re following (no full program though.)