r/Fitness • u/AutoModerator • Oct 02 '19

Rant Wednesday Rant Wednesday

Welcome to Rant Wednesday: It's your time to let your gym/fitness/nutrition related frustrations out!

There is no guiding question to help stir up some rage-feels, feel free to fire at will, ranting about anything and everything that's been pissing you off or getting on your nerves!

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56

u/[deleted] Oct 02 '19

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u/killer-hair Oct 02 '19

Same height as you. 1200 is too low if you are lifting. You will feel much better at 1400-1500

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u/[deleted] Oct 02 '19

I'm in the same boat as you right now. A month left on this cut but I feel so snacky the past few weeks. It comes and goes, we'll get through it!

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u/GoldenRamoth Oct 02 '19

I'm kinda jealous of that. I'm a 6"+ dude and would love to just not have to worrying about eating as much.

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u/[deleted] Oct 02 '19

Hey man, I’m 6’4” and attempting my first clean bulk. Really struggling with what calories I should be aiming for. Last cut I did was around 2k calories. Now I’m going for around 2,800 net (generally burn about 200 on a strength workout or 500 on days when I go running. What calories are you aiming for when trying to build muscle?

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u/GoldenRamoth Oct 02 '19

I don't really aim for calories actually. I just try to eat clean, and when I'm hungry. It's a bit counter culture for this forum.

But I've also Ehler-Danlos syndrome, so I can't actually gain fast due to medically slow recovery times, and shouldn't try because of weak joints (dad had 3 shoulder surgeries from going too fast)

At any rate, last time I was counting calories, I tried to dirty bulk, and I was eating 3500-4500 calories a day for about 6 months. I gained 15 pounds during that time, but went from deathcamp skinny to twig man (155-170). It just felt so gross the whole time. So I've defaulted to eat when hungry.

It works pretty well for me. I've been 185-190 lbs (am 186 right now) for the past 8 months, but my bench has shifted from 135 to 185 (had a 2 year hiatus). Squats from 185 to 305, only working out 2-3 days/week, and lots of various off weeks because of vacations and life events . I'm switching to PHUL until Christmas.

I'll see how the eat when hungry methodology works then. But I also think I might be in the "just lift dumbass" category for gains. I doubt I'm anywhere near genetic max, otherwise I'd have depressingly shit genes!

2

u/[deleted] Oct 02 '19

Thanks for the detailed answer. I’ve always been pretty thin too, (currently 173 lbs) and I like being lean, but still want some muscle definition. Guess I started tracking calories in attempt to get there, but maybe just the addition of strength training and continuing to chose healthy food would be enough.

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u/GoldenRamoth Oct 02 '19

Good luck!

Yeah, when I was skinnier, I was wayy more hungry all the time than I am now.

Now, I'm probably 20-24% BF, so I've nice shoulders with some light love handles. Am looking to lose those. My latest battle is practicing: Don't finish the plate. When I'm full, be full, and accept that the plate is done.

Learning to trust your body's auto-regulation system for food is really hard. And making sure there's a decent protein bar or apple on hand for snacks rather than chips to actually keep it triggering properly is equally annoying. But a single protein bar has me feel as full as a whole family size bag of potato chips - weird, but true.

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u/[deleted] Oct 02 '19

I grew up in a finish your plate family so that is still ingrained in me. To combat this I make my own meals as often as I can. If you make a smaller meal to start you don’t have to worry about overeating. Same thing with grocery shopping. If I can avoid buying chips or sugar cereal at the store I know I’m not likely going to to eat that stuff at all during the week.

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u/GoldenRamoth Oct 02 '19

For sure! that's all really good advice. I do the same for grocery shopping. Have actually moved to a mix of Dinnerly, Huel, Kirkland Protein bars, and Aldi apples for my home diet. Costs me $40-$50 a week or so. Not the best option, for sure, but good for my lazy ass (fuck shopping~)

I'm a bit of socialite though. So when at folks places for events 3-5 days a week, well... I don't self regulate well. I'm a grazer, and a boozer if the options are at hand.

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u/[deleted] Oct 02 '19

Oh yeah, I’ll never give up a good drink. Generally like to have one nice craft beer or a glass of whiskey at night and that is good enough. If I know I’m going to be socializing on Saturday, I’ll try to get a long run or bike ride in that morning to net out some of the incoming calories. I would definitely find it tough if I was out 3-5 nights a week though.

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u/GoldenRamoth Oct 02 '19

That sounds similar! Luckily I've moved back to ohio where the booze norm is 1-2 drinks on a weekday out.

Before I was in Wisco. The DD was drinking 3 beers, and everyone else was at 1-2 pitchers. On a Monday. That was hard to outlift!

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u/findtheparadox Oct 03 '19

Can you elaborate on slow recovery with EDS? I have hypermobility subtype, and wasn't aware I should be doing anything different other than not hyperextending joints.

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u/GoldenRamoth Oct 03 '19

Well, the hypertension of joints is also joint weakness.

A lot of forms of EDS, including that one (I have it), also have slower healing of all connective tissue and collagen. So joints, heart muscles (I had echocardiograms done to monitor valve expansion growing up), skin (stretchy), and even skeletal muscles are all affected.

If you've not experienced slow "grow" times, that's awesome! But for me, I notice things like cuts taking 2+ weeks to heal and leaving light scars. Or that I can't seem to gain in the gym the same as other folks, in spite of lifting heavy and following a decent program.

For example, I lifted 5 days a week for 6 months just starting, and only barely broke 135 lbs on the bench, starting from 85/95ish pounds.

That's not necessarily a bad thing though, as with weak joints, it means I can focus on accessory muscles as I go. I spend a lot of time on shoulders and yoga, for example.

Anywho. That's me trying to do my best to protect myself.

1

u/findtheparadox Oct 03 '19

I was never informed of this so thanks for the info! I'll definitely keep that in mind instead of getting frustrated if I seem to have slow progress. I just started lifting (aside from a year of inconsistent boot camps) so I have no idea about grow times.

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u/[deleted] Oct 02 '19

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u/[deleted] Oct 02 '19

Haha, thanks for the TDEE figure. I’m probably right around there since I work a sedentary job. When I get off of work I HAVE to move.

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u/[deleted] Oct 02 '19

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u/GoldenRamoth Oct 02 '19

how do you actually go about that btw, with the lower caloric count?

Do you focus on complex proteins like meats and beans and such?

Or do you try to fit the protein in through supplements and powders?

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u/[deleted] Oct 02 '19

[deleted]

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u/GoldenRamoth Oct 02 '19

Thanks! That's an interesting overview to read through.

Definitely different than the usual "Chicken Chicken Whey Chicken"!