My workout schedule

I’ve visited my local gym the last 10 years for different reasons.

• To gain muscle – I was skinny-fat and struggled to lift my girlfriend.
• To lose weight – I’ve peaked around 110 kg (240 in freedom units/lbs.) and the majority was not muscle mass.
• For isolation – the line at the daily opening at 05.00 PM was and still is very limited. Usually I would be there by myself for the entire workout.
• To clear my head – after or before an expected stressful day at work the physical pressure puts the rest of the day in perspective.

The results varied alot. I reaped the usual beginner gains when I wanted to build muscle mass. I saw small but noticeable changes every week; broader shoulders, larger lats and an curvy behind 🙂 That was very motivating. I could increase the weights for all exercises (I even calculated that after a month or so I would be able to shoulder press my body weight (I was a beginner, okay?)).

After some time the quick results faded and I got a case of the dreaded fuckarounditis.

Fuckarounditis is a behavioral disorder characterized by a mediocre physique and complete lack of progress, despite significant amounts of time spent in the gym.

Berkhan, M. (2011)https://leangains.com/fuckarounditis/

The time spent in the gym and not the actual workout was my biggest focus. I was not pushing myself during the exercises and redid the previous weight because of comfort (I think?).

A mix of new types of whey proteins, pre workout drinks, new clothing was tried and somehow non of those things had an effect. I was looking the wrong places, and didn’t realise that was bad problem solving. As I read this paragraph I see how obvious it seems that I was projecting my lacking in motivation to everything around me.

A mix between new found motivation and a structured schedule has rejuvenated my workouts. I’m no longer going to the gym to maintain or to be comfortable, but to push myself to my limit.

3 times a week. The 5 big exercises; squat, deadlift, shoulder press, rows and benchpress sprinkled with a few extras because I want to feel special 🙂

• Face pulls because they reduce my hunched over posture from working at a desk +40 hours/week.
• Chin ups because I like the manliness of pulling my own weight up.
• Dips because I like the manliness of pushing my own weight up.
• Side raises helps my shoulders look large.
• Curls because I want bigger biceps.

I like to keep track of my workouts and effort. An app called Progression helps me keep track of time between sets, show the weight from my last workout and number of sets and reps I’m going to complete. Combined with a Mi Band with the workout tracker activated it measures whether or not I’m doing better than the last time.