19 Nov 23 by member: -MorticiaAddams
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great work 👏 don't trust the scale even the In body scans at gyms are wildly inaccurate
20 Nov 23 by member: ObeseToBeast123
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My general feeling is the best exercise is the one that brings you joy, so if more cardio does it for you, stick with it. There are plenty of healthy people that focus on cardio
20 Nov 23 by member: writingwyo
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You look good but I do understand. I too struggle with building my back muscles. I weight lift 6 days a week and only really do cardio as a warmup…I think it has more to do with diet and bulking up, although cardio in your case can be a factor. I had surgery a while ago but when I get ok from Dr I am going to do a bulk and cut to see if that will help.
20 Nov 23 by member: Diana 1234
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@morticia and @OTB - thanks for the support!
20 Nov 23 by member: ddrudd
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@writingwyo - I agree, I think if we don’t enjoy it, it’s really difficult to find a reason to do it. Finding a balance between lifting and cardio has really been a challenge for me, because I just want to do ALL OF IT, lol 😊
20 Nov 23 by member: ddrudd
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@Diana thank you, I have followed your posts and I do think you "get" the same things I work on and struggle with 🙂 I’m so glad to see you’re recovering well from your surgery, give it time and when your body is ready you’ll be killing it again! In my case I’m not restricting calories at all and not tracking, just eating as much as I feel like, so I would think maybe I would gain some weight? But nope. The last time I gained 10 or so pounds I was eating very unhealthy foods for many months, and I don’t want to do that to my body again, my blood work showed it was a big mistake and I started to feel terrible. TBH… the thing about “too much cardio” always comes from guys who have a relatively easy time building muscle. I kinda think that if I followed their plan I would maybe put on a little more muscle, but not much, and not nearly enough to justify the mental health cost of giving up cardio. I’d be unhappy over the long term. And I only do about 30 min/day of cardio about 6 days a week, most of it low intensity, so it’s really not that much! It can be little disappointing to see such small changes sometimes… but on the other hand it’s really really cool to see progress over time. It’s just both... not one or the other… frustrating AND awesome :) I will be interested to see how you do with bulking/cutting, definitely keep sharing your updates!
20 Nov 23 by member: ddrudd
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20 Nov 23 by member: brownvaushawn
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For muscle building, just gradually add weight to your exercises and you will build more muscle.
20 Nov 23 by member: bjohn105
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Great job... and I love the outlook. I feared the gym initially like a lot of people have prior to going. But like a good friendship and relationship it's all about finding the right one. Most of them will do a pass for several days to try them out. Look and try a few until one feels right. Not sure if you have Anytime fitness where you located. But they're locations are everywhere and generally ran pretty well. It's normally a good mix of all ages looking to get better. In a good gym everyone is just there focusing on improving themselves.
20 Nov 23 by member: Joe Not Exotic
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Sadly the answer is you cant have it all at least not at the same time. This is the loop im stuck in and will be forever because i will never give up either one permanently but to really get better at eithwr one you need to significantly cut back or eleliminate one of them for a decent amount of time and put more focus into the other. Trying to get mych better in both at the same time will have you spinning your wheels and getting frustrated. In april I finished my cut after my bulk and my best deadlift set was 315×8 i started eating maintenance calories and increased my cardio significantly by the time it hit October first my endurance went through the roof and my deadlift dropped down yo 275 × 6 i cut my cardio out and went on my bulk and 7 weeks later my deadlift is 335×10. Just my experience this year but I definitely found out I cant have it all at once. The great part is with muscle memory it didnt take that long to get all my previous muscle back and now im aining new muscle that I will ultimately lose some of it when i start this cyle again. But like you said do what you love! Thats what im doing just figuring out a way to do it effectively
20 Nov 23 by member: ObeseToBeast123
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First of all I want to say congrats! If you are loving how your body is becoming then really that’s the goal. Second when we say not to do cardio it’s usually 3+ miles of running. Any type of cardio where you exert yourself enough to force your body to want to adapt to it. Low intensity cardio is great. You can run and a pace where you can talk freely. Second if you’re gonna do try it, please try it 100% by that I mean track your carbs. Carbs = lifting energy. Low carbs means lower energy and while it may feel like you are exerting your muscles in reality you’re just spend. And by eating freely and not gaining even losing you are in a deficit. So you can’t expect noticeable gains while eating in a deficit. Surplus+minimal cardio+carb tracking is my recommendation. Good luck
20 Nov 23 by member: Supergainz1
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@brownvaushawn and @bjohn - thanks!
20 Nov 23 by member: ddrudd
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@joe not exotic - thanks for your comments about the gym, the encouragement really helps. I've worked with a personal trainer in a private gym before but I've never just gone on my own to a commercial gym. I have so much anxiety about how to use certain things there and what the etiquette is. And unlike most people all my experience is 100% with free weights so I have no idea what to do with the machines, lol. I just gotta get over myself and go ask some dumb questions and be willing to look silly, I think!
20 Nov 23 by member: ddrudd
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@OTB yes, I think you're right that trying to do both at once will make me mediocre at both and frustrated about both. Part of my issue is that it's hard to settle on a clear goal, and I go back and forth in my mind about this all the time. Earlier this year I was dedicated to lifting and I got my deadlift 1RM up to 185, which was a LOT for me having never tried to lift heavy before that. A little short of my 200 goal, but I feel if I re-dedicated I could definitely get there in a few months. Squats I won't talk about, I just hate those, lol 😆 I just see so much progress that could be made in every area... maybe it would help to take a few months and focus in one area, then a few months in another area, etc kind of like you've been doing. Something to think about 🤔
20 Nov 23 by member: ddrudd
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@super thank you, and thank you for pointing out the obvious that if I'm not gaining weight I can't be in surplus. It's hard to get my head around the fact that I am somehow burning that many calories in a day, though?? I use a watch to tell me calories burned, and lately I just keep a rough tally in my head of intake calories and it's usually far in excess of what the watch says I burned. So... either the watch or my brain or both is off. Noted on tracking carbs. All I really watch is protein and fiber, so I have no idea what my fat/carb mix is, at all. I need to think about if I really want to commit to putting on muscle or just keep messing around trying to do everything and failing a little at everything, ultimately 🤔
20 Nov 23 by member: ddrudd
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Excellent definition!!!!! 💪👏
I only wish I could achieve that!!!! 🤩
24 Nov 23 by member: Runs4Fitness
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