Chat Thread

[Guest]

Man, I've been at the exact same spot for a couple weeks now. I've upped the number of sets I'll do in a day (Much to my pain), increased the number of pushups (More pain for naught), and it's still not showing much. I figured I was just doing something wrong for a while, but no, I've got the form and everything right.

 

And idunno, the weights are just for something else to do to get parts that aren't being worked during the pushups. Not looking to replace them, or get serious about lifting weights or whatever, just a small accent to maybe help me out. But since you've said something, where would you suggest I be before moving on? I'm still in the fairly measly 15-20 pushups area, several times a day. Which, greatly improved over where I was when I started, buut not so good compared to, say, my friend who started doing the same stuff at the same time as I did, who's definitely showing improvement.

 

Dunno. I was just going to do some dumbbell exercises, and have my brother make sure I don't kill myself or anything. I could probably ask him to guide me in general, I guess. He's not any kind of workout nut, but he's got plenty of muscle, and has gone through plenty of structured workouts.

[sushi]

For a while a few years ago I was upping my reps by one a night for every exercise. That seemed to work pretty well for me -- not a fast gain, but it was steady.

 

As for my exercise recently, I got some bad shin splints that have kept me from doing much in the way of cardio recently. I've made no progress. I need to get back on that.

[Kiahdaj]

Isn't 2 weeks a little soon to be expecting results? I don't think I ever really saw strength increases during an exercise regimen any sooner than a month or so. Also you do the pushups several times a day? Are you sure you're giving your muscles enough rest? They'll never grow or get stronger if you don't allow them to heal properly. Also diet is important.

 

These days I'm personally focusing more on just eating than exercising. I can lose pounds of fat in a week while not doing anything at all, so exercising just expedites that, I guess.

 

Also, I was hoping it would be the giraffe toy, too. But of course, I have a bit of a bias there.

[Guest]

I think expecting at least an improvement in how easy it is in a couple weeks is fairly reasonable. And I don't go until my arms feel dead, or anything, just enough that I can feel a bit of a burn, or a decent one depending, then I'll stop and do more later in the day. I dislike feeling like my arms are totally dead at the end of a day, so I try my best to avoid that, but still.

 

Idunno. Doing that was working for a bit. I can't be arsed to check dates here and see when I started, but I think we're like, three weeks in? Maybe saying two weeks is generous, a week and a few days is probably about it, but my perception of time is all miffed on account of doing fuck-all in a day, now. After the first week and a half or so I went from like, a couple sets of five with major pains, to a few of.. I don't even know. More. And then increase, and then nothing as of a week and a half or so ago.

 

I probably am just expecting a bit much after that first major improvement. Who knows. Have done a few sets in the past several hours, the last one only being six, so I think I'm done for the night. I'll figure out some way to mix it up or something, or add another exercise to my regime because talking about pushups isn't that exciting, aha.

 

And what's this about a giraffe toy? Giraffes are gay. Super gay.

[Kiahdaj]

Wow.

[Stevie]

@Enny Ideally you'd do a routine where you're rotating what muscles you're working on a daily basis, to give them time to repair themselves, maybe look into some actual body weight routines.

 

Also, yeah, echoing what Kiah said about eating being just as important as exercise. You don't have to get right into a clean high protein type diet right away, but knowing how many calories you burn a day and shooting for around 500 under that is generally how people cut.

[Kiahdaj]

I personally used to do a routine which was split into push, pull, and legs. A Monday, Wednesday, Friday thing. Though by the time I came up with that routine, I was pretty unmotivated and sick of the whole thing, so it didn't last too long. I can't really tell you how it went, unfortunately. Though that kind of split is pretty highly recommended by people.

 

Anyway, speaking of music again. I'm thinking about making a thread in which I review albums. I would review a bunch of ones I like, and would be open to suggestions for other albums to listen to and review. I think it could be fun. It would introduce both myself and others to new music, which is always nice. My only concern is that most people around here probably don't like the kind of stuff that I do. I would say I'm pretty open about music (albeit still picky), but most of the stuff I listen to falls under the rock umbrella. What do you all think of that? Is that something you think you or anyone else would care about?

 

P.S., I found a George: http://i.imgur.com/1F2Fjoa.png

[Guest]

I'd be down for music shit. But yeah, the demographic is definitely, probably not all there for what you'd be looking at. Even me, I like all of the prog stuff, but I get the notion that you're way niche with a lot of it. Last time we spoke about it, I felt like I was the kiddy who's only into the mainstream stuff, and you were the dude who's incredibly far into it. Still, do it, might find something cool.

 

Also speaking of music, I'm listening to 'Metropolis Pt. 2, Scenes From a Memory' for the first time in a while, and I'm blown away all over again. Favorite album of all time, no contest. I want to say that the first time I listened to this album all the way through, was the first and only time I've ever entered any kind of trance, and just.. Hell. On Strange Deja Vu right now and I'm crying it's so good. Such a great album, and I'd recommend everybody experience it at least once in their life.

 

Of course, my damn phone breaks after each song, so it's not possible to be totally immersed like I'd like to be, but still. I have yet to feel this way about any music since, and it's been years.

[Kiahdaj]

If I recall, it's my favorite Dream Theater album (that I've heard), but I still just can't into it. I don't know why. So many people praise them as the greatest ever, but I just can't seem to get into them. I think my second favorite waasss... Train of Thought. What do you think of that album?

I will have to give Metropolis another shot. I don't think I ever actually finished it. Maybe I'll give it a real, honest, undivided listen and review it.

 

I wonder what album I should review first. That's a really tough choice.

 

Edit: Oh, no, that's a lie. Black Clouds is my favorite. I think I actually said that earlier in this thread.

[Guest]

Train of Thought for me is actually a haze, so I can't tell you much about it. My second favorite album of theirs is, what is it, 'A Dramatic Turn of Events'? Yeah. Octavarium takes a lot of peoples' favorite for the fact that the album's namesake song is like, twenty-five minutes long? It's ridiculous. But Metropolis Pt. 2, and Turn of Events are the two I'll recommend to about anyone. Oh, and also, I can't remember what album it's on, because I don't currently have it on my phone, but whatever A Rite of Passage is on. Fucking great song, and Album if I recall. Which I might not.

 

Avoid their new self-title album like the plague though, after so many great albums, they were bound to have one that was.. Well, it wasn't thaaat bad, but it's nothing to really praise, either.

 

But yeah, I'll be awaiting that Metropolis review.