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Not sure exactly what you’re arguing here but I think I disagree quite a bit. I’ve been lifting for about six months, and I think this is the longest stretch I

Not sure exactly what you’re arguing here but I think I disagree quite a bit. I’ve been lifting for about six months, and I think this is the longest stretch I’ve been able to go without getting bored with it, because I’m at a gym this time and have access to a ton of equipment. Variety can really make a difference, and some will say it’s good for your muscles anyways to do different exercises that are targeting the same muscle groups. And the point of apps like this is that it makes it easy to say “today is push day, push is chest and triceps, show me chest and triceps exercises.” What’s wrong with a novice saying that?

blitzar 3y ago
I have found it essential to have a plan on the day. No thinking or deciding, just look at the piece of paper and it says do X 3x10 times, and you do it. Then look at the next thing to do. Do the thinking every 4-6 weeks as you rotate the plan - but also repetition lets you track some progress (reps / weight / how hard set was).
- anakaine 3y ago
  This is so incredibly important. As a beginner you can basically hit anything often enough and see progress. Once you hit intermediate and the gains slow down you really do need to walk in with a plan. The plan let's you not think and just work. Just working and not thinking, and basically just being told what to do (even if it is just telling yourself) let's you get through the workout repeatably, and with experiencing less of the grind. It also means you hit the body parts with incremental progressive overload in a planned and repeatable fashion, causing growth. And every 6-10 weeks you get the fun of changing it up. And then there's the days where stuff doesn't quite work, but you have turned up anyhow. Those are days I chalk up to fun.
- Brendinooo 3y ago
  I've been using the Strong app to save workout templates (in a broad push/pull/leg framework) so I have a list of stuff to do each time, but if I'm bored with an exercise or (more typically) someone's been using the rack for 30 minutes and I need to move on, that's when I'll look for an alternative exercise. Apps like Strong or Fitbod or this new site are great in this scenario - can filter by what you have and will show you how to do it.
matwood 3y ago
> without getting bored with it You're not going to like this, but lifting is about finding joy in the grind (like a lot of life). Gains are often incremental, but add up over time. For me, lifting is my alone time to listen to music and think. The lifting part is automatic.
- Brendinooo 3y ago
  I’ve clocked 4300 miles on my running app since 2011, after growing up hating running, so I’m aware of the grind. But there are different ways to run and some are more enjoyable to different people. I have to believe this is true in the lifting world as well. If I would have told someone "I don't like running on the treadmill or on the track, it's super boring", the better response would have been to tell me that there are different ways to find enjoyment in running rather than just saying I should suck it up. For me, that was running in flat-ish urban-ish settings to take in the sights while signing up for an occasional race to give me something to work for. I never liked running in the rain so I just...didn't, unless I was on a training plan for an upcoming race or otherwise couldn't work around it. And so on. For my lifting: variety, access to a sauna, and a public setting that allows me to watch and talk to other people have helped a lot. I'll see how far it carries me! (And I welcome more advice for making it enjoyable.)
  - matwood 3y ago
    Of course find what works for you, but 4300 miles even in your ideal setting ends up being discipline based over motivation. By that point you're running because you're supposed to run, not necessarily because you want to run. That's what I mean about lifting. There's only so much novelty in a squat, so you have to find something beyond that. For me it was powerlifting, for others it's getting bigger, and others it's getting better in their sport. Also, I deal with people and complex problems all day long. The gym is my retreat. I speak to no one and focus on the relatively simple task of picking up a weight.
    - hultner 3y ago
      Not sure I agree. At a point in my youth I ran 3000 miles in a year based on motivation (college competition, I was really motivated to keep the number one spot in the leaderboard).
maerF0x0 3y ago
Variety can make the difference in motivation. If that's what you lack, then so be it. But it's detrimental to a progressive/scienctific-like approach to lifting. We want to know that over time we're getting progressive overload. That means you need consistency to watch that 1) The weight goes up for the same reps, or 2) the reps go up for the same weight (or 3, both). Unfortunately exercises are not direct replacements for each other meaning you cannot simply do the same for a variety of (eg:) bicep curls. Once someone gets past what linear progression can achieve (see Strong lifts 5x5 app for example) then we start to do periodization or other plateau breaking patterns.
- bjornasm 3y ago
  >But it's detrimental to a progressive/scienctific-like approach to lifting. Uh, sources for that? As I powerlifter I have lifted with world class lifter who have a huge variations in their exercises. Bands,chains, boxes, pause/no pause, grip width, stance width.
  - maerF0x0 3y ago
    Yes, of course a single exceptional exception makes it true. The reason that works for a world class athelete is because they're extremely careful and persistent to periodize and have progressive overload. Unless the commenter is an equivalent exception, it's bad advice to follow that, or any other, kind of advice from exceptional genetic folks. It's very difficult to select the correct weight for an exercise when you're constantly changing it up. What you're describing are simple modifications as a form of progression. Adding a band to a barbell bench press is still a barbell bench press. But going from barbell bench press, to weighted push up, to (incline|decline|flat) dumbbell bench, to iso lateral hammer machine, to smith, to (low, mid high) (cable, bench) flyes, to dips, to ... Is detrimental. Most folks should try 12 weeks of the exact same exercise per body part with a RIR3, RIR2, RIR1, RIR0 cycle. (increasing weight each week and from cycle to cycle) . And most folks can do a reasonable selection of exercises for a year or two before they need to tweak for imbalance or personal details like insertions, or weaknesses.
- lukas099 3y ago
goostavos 3y ago
>What’s wrong with a novice saying that? Only real risk is people getting confused or frustrated as to why they're not making any progress. "Doing a bunch of stuff" is very different from training. Progressive overload is the thing that needs drilled into the newbie's head. None of this is complicated, but doing a bunch of random stuff every time you enter the gym is a really good way to feel like your doing something all while accomplishing very little. I've been lifting for almost a decade at this point. My philosophy on it boils down to: it's grueling, so... if you're going to do it, you should get the most bang for your buck. That said, changing up the routine in a structured manner is definitely a good idea very once and awhile (if only to deload for a bit).

blitzar 3y ago

I have found it essential to have a plan on the day. No thinking or deciding, just look at the piece of paper and it says do X 3x10 times, and you do it. Then look at the next thing to do. Do the thinking every 4-6 weeks as you rotate the plan - but also repetition lets you track some progress (reps / weight / how hard set was).

anakaine 3y ago
This is so incredibly important. As a beginner you can basically hit anything often enough and see progress. Once you hit intermediate and the gains slow down you really do need to walk in with a plan. The plan let's you not think and just work. Just working and not thinking, and basically just being told what to do (even if it is just telling yourself) let's you get through the workout repeatably, and with experiencing less of the grind. It also means you hit the body parts with incremental progressive overload in a planned and repeatable fashion, causing growth. And every 6-10 weeks you get the fun of changing it up. And then there's the days where stuff doesn't quite work, but you have turned up anyhow. Those are days I chalk up to fun.
Brendinooo 3y ago
I've been using the Strong app to save workout templates (in a broad push/pull/leg framework) so I have a list of stuff to do each time, but if I'm bored with an exercise or (more typically) someone's been using the rack for 30 minutes and I need to move on, that's when I'll look for an alternative exercise. Apps like Strong or Fitbod or this new site are great in this scenario - can filter by what you have and will show you how to do it.

matwood 3y ago

> without getting bored with it You're not going to like this, but lifting is about finding joy in the grind (like a lot of life). Gains are often incremental, but add up over time. For me, lifting is my alone time to listen to music and think. The lifting part is automatic.

Brendinooo 3y ago
I’ve clocked 4300 miles on my running app since 2011, after growing up hating running, so I’m aware of the grind. But there are different ways to run and some are more enjoyable to different people. I have to believe this is true in the lifting world as well. If I would have told someone "I don't like running on the treadmill or on the track, it's super boring", the better response would have been to tell me that there are different ways to find enjoyment in running rather than just saying I should suck it up. For me, that was running in flat-ish urban-ish settings to take in the sights while signing up for an occasional race to give me something to work for. I never liked running in the rain so I just...didn't, unless I was on a training plan for an upcoming race or otherwise couldn't work around it. And so on. For my lifting: variety, access to a sauna, and a public setting that allows me to watch and talk to other people have helped a lot. I'll see how far it carries me! (And I welcome more advice for making it enjoyable.)
- matwood 3y ago
  Of course find what works for you, but 4300 miles even in your ideal setting ends up being discipline based over motivation. By that point you're running because you're supposed to run, not necessarily because you want to run. That's what I mean about lifting. There's only so much novelty in a squat, so you have to find something beyond that. For me it was powerlifting, for others it's getting bigger, and others it's getting better in their sport. Also, I deal with people and complex problems all day long. The gym is my retreat. I speak to no one and focus on the relatively simple task of picking up a weight.
  - hultner 3y ago
    Not sure I agree. At a point in my youth I ran 3000 miles in a year based on motivation (college competition, I was really motivated to keep the number one spot in the leaderboard).

maerF0x0 3y ago

Variety can make the difference in motivation. If that's what you lack, then so be it. But it's detrimental to a progressive/scienctific-like approach to lifting. We want to know that over time we're getting progressive overload. That means you need consistency to watch that 1) The weight goes up for the same reps, or 2) the reps go up for the same weight (or 3, both). Unfortunately exercises are not direct replacements for each other meaning you cannot simply do the same for a variety of (eg:) bicep curls. Once someone gets past what linear progression can achieve (see Strong lifts 5x5 app for example) then we start to do periodization or other plateau breaking patterns.

bjornasm 3y ago
>But it's detrimental to a progressive/scienctific-like approach to lifting. Uh, sources for that? As I powerlifter I have lifted with world class lifter who have a huge variations in their exercises. Bands,chains, boxes, pause/no pause, grip width, stance width.
- maerF0x0 3y ago
  Yes, of course a single exceptional exception makes it true. The reason that works for a world class athelete is because they're extremely careful and persistent to periodize and have progressive overload. Unless the commenter is an equivalent exception, it's bad advice to follow that, or any other, kind of advice from exceptional genetic folks. It's very difficult to select the correct weight for an exercise when you're constantly changing it up. What you're describing are simple modifications as a form of progression. Adding a band to a barbell bench press is still a barbell bench press. But going from barbell bench press, to weighted push up, to (incline|decline|flat) dumbbell bench, to iso lateral hammer machine, to smith, to (low, mid high) (cable, bench) flyes, to dips, to ... Is detrimental. Most folks should try 12 weeks of the exact same exercise per body part with a RIR3, RIR2, RIR1, RIR0 cycle. (increasing weight each week and from cycle to cycle) . And most folks can do a reasonable selection of exercises for a year or two before they need to tweak for imbalance or personal details like insertions, or weaknesses.
lukas099 3y ago

goostavos 3y ago

>What’s wrong with a novice saying that? Only real risk is people getting confused or frustrated as to why they're not making any progress. "Doing a bunch of stuff" is very different from training. Progressive overload is the thing that needs drilled into the newbie's head. None of this is complicated, but doing a bunch of random stuff every time you enter the gym is a really good way to feel like your doing something all while accomplishing very little. I've been lifting for almost a decade at this point. My philosophy on it boils down to: it's grueling, so... if you're going to do it, you should get the most bang for your buck. That said, changing up the routine in a structured manner is definitely a good idea very once and awhile (if only to deload for a bit).