2024-09-21
In terms of having projects that can be put towards the goal "do a thousand of something", I would benefit I think from having a /thousands page on my website. This would just be a simple page with a counter (I could do a fancy progress-bar style tracker here, I'm sure there's HTML for it, like a progress bar sort of thing) that goes between zero and a thousand, with the number and when the last instance was. So for instance, I could have the bar for wv be at 71, the bar be 7.1% filled along, and the last instance date (maybe find a catchier name...) be at 2024-09-21.
I could do many things with this thousands idea. To enumerate the main things that would work under it, for me, I think would be:
I said some wvs that a good routine to try for the gym would be to lay out for the week (by three sessions) the things I want to be done in the week, and then decide on the day what it is that I want to do. That would be a combination of free weights, machines, and for all important parts of my body, ideally those that I neglect now as well: chest/pecs, back, biceps, triceps, forearms (neglected), abs (negl.), obliques (negl.), lats, traps, shoulders/delts, rotator cuff, lower back, glutes, legs.
That is about fourteen items, and whilst some will require more than one exercise, I could do it quite reasonably in the three days I have.
Or. I dedicate more hours to the gym, if I want better gains. I current give a day of rest in between each set, but of course that is rest for a particular muscle group, so is unnecessary if I make sure to just rest each group by at least one day. So, I could then go four, or five times a week, if I felt so inclined. It all depends on my schedule, as of course an evening where I go to the gym is one I can't really do anything else in (save for eat dinner and maybe read or something). Then again, what do I want to do in an evening after work? And could I make my meal prep quicker (perhaps prepare in bulk and heat up, or do something at the same time as heating up, or...) to sort that out as well?
Then, I think I could prepare a list of things that I have the knowledge to do well, with correct form, and do those. I think that would be a better way: to become more generally knowledgeable about the gym (although, in a different mental state, that is more conducive to doing it, now, that I have gone through this - often, the same thing is the solution and the mindset the problem) and to then do those more often perhaps. When can I go? Well, I could theoretically go on Saturday and Sunday both days, Monday and Friday morning of course, and could top it up with Wednesday evening. That gives five days (of seven) where I could go, so could actually see quite good gains in that. I suppose I just need to not be shy to go on the weekends, as I have been, and to not skip two days (I had in mind to skip Sat and Sun because I'll go Mon) fixating on, and using as a justification, the need to rest. I just need to make sure I am training different muscles.
For instance, if I went tomorrow (Sunday), I could still go Monday provided I trained different muscles.
So, a push-pull-legs routine, if going five days a week, could work if I just skipped one that is less important (can change each week, I guess). Then I decide on the day which of the types I want to do each day. In fact, I might well go tomorrow to bump the number to #35, and to get in a workout. Then, I need to decide on a set of things I would do on each day (probably lists already premade, but let a man discover - discovery helps reinforce) and for each, in turn becoming more knowledgeable about the parts of the body and what does what, I suppose.
The split would be a push routine covering (chest, triceps, shoulders), pull routine covering (biceps, back, abs, obliques, forearms), and a legs routine. I think legs is fairly short, as there is not a lot I can do, so I could pad some things into that... whatever I do, if I maintain the split, then I won't get in trouble in terms of not resting.
I guess I won't develop what I do here as no one wants to see that, but I think I've just talked myself back into going to the gym more. Why is it so addictive? I guess I do want to see gains, and I'm seeing them quite slowly at the moment.
The system is one day in the middle (Wed), with four consecutive days (Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon) around that, and (Tue, Thu) as rest days. That allows Wednesday to be a general purpose "do whatever", with more restriction on the weekend days in terms of not overlapping what I do. I could do something like ... I guess, Fri pull, Sat push, Sun legs, Mon pull and push both. Could that work?
I guess the problem with this is, am I going to do it? The problem is with finding the time to do the gym so often, especially considering the time to ride there and the time to dedicate to it. I sort of struggle fitting it in, and should try to do something different...
And in terms of the other things, I suppose I get a bit of a pressure not to leave them too long, if I adopt the tracker for thousands... I just somehow feel like this won't work.
Also, movie - I didn't watch one on Friday, so I could watch one tomorrow?
I am writing a lot of wv recently, and am happy for that (is it just turning into a blog), but I need to consider what I'm going to do in terms of time management. It seems as if I am low on time, but of course, I must be able to do it... I guess I need to try to do what I can. Of course, there is a lot of things that take me away from it, and I just need to realise that I can't have it all (I don't have the time.) But I can do a decent bit, and still progress. If I focus a lot on the gym this year and next, I can make the kind of progress I want, and then can try to shift a bit more to guitar and whatever else...
Or, maybe I'll realise that I just manage my time badly.
Have a good one.