What You Enjoy Vs What Supports Your Goals

Do one thing you like, and two things you dislike. Why not include oly lifts as activation? Snatch before deadlifts, cleans before squats.

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I can’t agree with that. It’s all about programing. IMO every routine should include explosive movements. Slams, jumps, cleans, etc. Explosive feeds strength, strength feeds size.

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Loved that movie.

“There’s got to be somebody left that needs some killing?”

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a lot like Svend Karlsen then !! lol

First you say this:

Butt hen you say this:

Surely if you like physical exertion, then squats are one of the best ways to feed that animal.

I think @T3hPwnisher was partially right. You don’t need to like everything you do when training. But I also think there is room for a little grey here (its not black and white). If you have movements or types of training you like, why not do those and try really hard to be good at them. If you are consistent and work hard enough you will either a) surprise yourself at how good you get, or b) start to really dislike them. Either way you are wining, you get good or you move on to something else.

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Viking Power!

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All good advice, peeps. I’m absorbing all of it!

Well, if it helps, I absolutely hate Barbell Squats. The best I’ve got is a single at double my bodyweight a long time ago. Instead, I do goblet squats and hack squats. Doing something that you need to do,through an exercise that you hate less,is far better than not doing it at all.

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Like the OP I like to exert myself and enjoy the gym most of the time.

In my mind my goal has always been to build strength while remaining somewhat athletic, while at the same time I absolute the hate the feeling of being too heavy and holding extra weight which makes attaining my goal difficult.

I think doing what you enjoy is important, and possibly more important than achieving your “goal”, especially if your goal has no specific purpose (for work or for professional sports). In other words, maybe you need to reconsider your goal?

tweet

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This is definitely something I’ve considered.

I don’t enjoy anything gym related anymore. It was fun to chase PRs until my joints started acting up. I don’t enjoy the culture, the obsessive pursuit of becoming an ever freakier freak, the narcissism, the taking over other areas of life, the lack of self growth because of that taking over. I don’t have much if any lean muscle gains in the tank and I know any incremental progress will require tons of effort and top notch recovery strategies. I’ve been much bigger on drugs and simply shredded back down to what is sustainable naturally (okay, I’m popping Amazon’s pregnenolone+dhea…)

Not giving a fuck about anything ego related remains the best strategy to date to navigate this world. At least for me. No social media. Only one account here out of all message boards. No ego lifting, no ego bullshitting, none of that crap. I do enjoy giving reasonable life advice based on my experience. Finding someone who listens is such an odd rarity tho, combine that with the fact that I have less sympathy+empathy than a drill sergeant. Somehow, my GF takes the heat and makes rapid progress. Therefore I’m here supporting her goals.

TLDR; I enjoy flying under the radar after 3 decades of limitless extroversion. I enjoy not being self absorbed. I enjoy watching progress in others, since mine has maxed out.

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Cleans are great for traps. Most likely build a bit of legs as well

I’ve always thought so too. Might be movement patterns or any number of things, but power cleans are about the only thing that ever got my lower traps to start to budge.

Was thinking about that last night when cleaning the weight up for front squats.

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When doing the olift program my whole neck/traps/shoulders area was perpetually sore

Yeah, that’s pretty much how mine were too, and I was, by the numbers, already pretty strong. Mid back to the top of my head got a lot of weakness exposed and new activation all over the place.

I’ve always attributed the soreness to the abrupt stop on the eccentric/lowering phase.

I just attribute it to any new stimulus or activation.

Ive gotten the same feeling even from archery.

BD treadmill

I hate this shit… but its necessary for health reasons.

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