The biggest downside i found with strength training was injuries.

I had debilitating back pain for 2 years, which is 90% better now. I wish to fully avoid injury if at all possible. I do warmup sets of 50% of my 1RM for 10 reps because that’s what I was taught. I’m still at beginner weights and will adjust my warmups accordingly as I advance up the strength progression. My strength goals are very reasonable. I would like to be able to do a weighted pullup or weighted dip with about 25 pounds for ~5 reps. I’d like to be able to bench press about 225 for 10 reps. And I’d like to do a very heavy Zercher squat, not sure yet about weight/reps.

Second point you can’t gamify they system and take shorter breaks etc since you should aim to do your next set when you are recovered. No longer labourerd breathing. Unless you are training to a system that says 45 second rest then hit what you can.

The “rule” I was taught and try to stick with is as follows:

3 minute rest for “big compounds” (squat, RDL, benchpress)

2 minutes for “small compounds” (row, assisted pullups, etc)

1 minute for isolation (lateral raises, tricep extensions, etc)

Prior to this year, I would go to the gym and typically do 2 or 3 sets with 10 minute rest times between sets then do a half hour of treadmill since weight loss was my primary focus, prior to January 2026 but I’ve shed over 100 pounds in 2 years and am looking now to strength train.

How does this fit with rir/er for you? Did you try to workout a month with and one without that method? Did you see a difference?

I’ve only been doing serious strength training since January. But I started weight loss in March 2024 while doing 2-3 sets at the gym followed by a half hour of treadmill. So technically I’ve been going to the gym for 2 years if you count doing 2-3 sets per day, but I only got serious in January 2026.

Afaik, the most important metric is progressive overload. If you can add weights and volume to your sets, compared to your previous workouts, you are good.

Yes, my strength has gone up by a large percentage, to which I credit my ability to bring maximum intensity to the gym. I can push myself to RPE 10 on my first few sets of every workout. I like pushing myself and find it both challenging and immensely rewarding. I also do ice baths 3-4 times per month. I was very weak all my life and my 1RM benchpress was around 120 and now it’s close to 160 or 170. But my biggest increases have been in bicep & shoulder exercises, to which I’m nearly as strong in upper body as my strongest brother, who is a very outdoorsy person and does a group-style gym cardio/lifting class every morning at 6am before work.

As long as you are fatiguing the muscle with heavy weights, you don’t have much junk volume within a set. You can do 40 reps, it just takes more time and noone wants to do that. 8-12 or 6-14 reps are the sweat spot. If you aim for 8 and can do 14, so what? Awesome! Your progression from your previous session is great. Add weight and do the same for the next set/session.

My biggest fear is running into a plateau after the “beginner gains” phase ends. Although unrealistic, I fear the day where my month-over-month strength gains begin to slow down and taper off.

I’m in multiple low-carb communities and many people prefer erythritol over sucralose because they say it is better for your teeth. I’m in the sucralose camp and I’ve previously had a blood clot from my leg travel to my lungs, which 33% of people die the first time it happens to them. Team sucralose all the way! 💪

it’s not going to stick unless you have an application for it.

I am trying to get into “low dopamine hobbies” which is why I got into beekeeping last year and has been one of the best decisions of my life. Anything you do regularly becomes positively reinforced so as long as an activity isn’t annoying or negative, you can do it more often until you enjoy it, even if it’s not enjoyable at first. I also would like to practice speed at tying knots since that would give me a goal to look forward to. I’m a huge fan of watching speedrunning videos and always find doing something fast is entertaining, even if the underlying activity is nothing special in and of itself. I also love watching people play piano pieces extremely fast, and I myself have put in hundreds of hours of practice into playing 1-2 piano pieces about a decade ago. It gave me a goal to look forward to and I enjoyed the challenge, especially since I was terrible at piano before I began. 😁

I’ve found online rope and knot guides pretty frustrating.

Same. I’ve learned from trying to follow videos that knots which look easy might be a reflection of the person’s skill (at making them seem easy) and maybe they have practiced tying that knot 5000 times in their lifetime. Some knots look simple but are deceptively complicated. 😣

I’m taking a beginner python class. Can Android or iPhone apps be built in python then converted into compatible format via chatGPT or some other fancy github converter?

In your OP you only mentioned that your brother just recently got back into weightlifting but there isn’t anything about his goals in relation to that. Is he just trying to get his feet wet to get into the habit of exercising just for the sake of it (to “stay in shape”) or did he outright tell you that he wants to build muscle (and you didn’t just assume that he does)?

I talked to him today and it seemed to catch him off guard. He basically just said it’s a good habit to get into and he considers it exercise more than bodybuilding. He has 3 young kids under 5 so I’m guessing that his main reason is to do exercise in a productive way that lets him still help out around the house like if a kid starts crying or breaks something, he can immediately stop what he’s doing and take care of it.

I agree with the person you’re replying to that a hands off approach would be best. Honestly the routine he’s doing is fine when it comes to just getting general movement in. I think the most important thing is getting him to see exercise as “something that you just do” like brushing your teeth.

Yes, that would be great but I fear without a goal to focus on, he will probably quit before it becomes a long-term habit. As you probably know, when you involve a habit with a long-term goal, it not only makes the habit more meaningful, but you’ll also dump 100x more effort into it rather than (like brushing your teeth) just “going through the motions” to get it over with. I’m also low-key hopeful that muscle-building will increase his appetite and help him put on 30 pounds of lean mass. He’s been toothpick-shaped his entire life and I can’t help but see his body type as sickly (even though he’s very healthy and much healthier than me).

You get him professional help for his eating disorder…

I’m 8 years older than him and he’s always been very underweight his whole life since as long as I can remember. Here is a timestamped youtube screenshot of how my brother approximately looks (very tall and skinny but not sufficient to suspect eating disorder). If it were an eating disorder, then at some point in life he would have been a normal healthy weight but he’s always been shaped like a toothpick. 😣

Like, you need to get him to eat, not exercise.

How exactly? Should I just frame it in a clever way so he thinks of it as “non-meal eating” or similar? (i.e. if I tell him to eat 500-600 calories before and after his workout, with at least 40g of protein each) I also thought about framing it as FOMO (fear of missing out) and that he’s leaving gains on the table if he isn’t in a daily 200 calorie surplus, which makes it sound not that difficult to eat an extra 200 calories per day.

In metric: he is around 1.82m and 65 kilos which puts him at a bmi of 19.7, which is at the lower end of a healthy range.

Here is a timestamped youtube screenshot of how my brother approximately looks (very tall and skinny but not sufficient to suspect eating disorder) since I should have provided an image in my OP rather than give his height/weight.

As a beginner doing anything is better than doing nothing, so why not just be supportive and offer to help/explain stuff but don’t give unprompted advice. There is so much you can already achieve with some weights at home and he doesn’t have to go full gymbro to see meaningful changes for health and fitness

I agree and I hope to just give him encouragement and let him know that I’m very knowledgeable and will happily share info with him about any topic as it relates to hypertrophy or muscle protein synthesis. However, I’m not sure if I should get his hopes up that he will gain any muscle or strength, given his lack of insight into eating more everyday. He might be self-conscious about his thinness and I don’t want to make him feel bad about being underweight even though that’s the #1 thing that will hold him back from seeing any benefits such as strength or gaining muscle.

Post covid i have discovered that ive lost all willpower/discipline when it comes to dieting.

Will-power is a myth. Discipline is a long conversation but habits are 100x more important than discipline. It’s really not that hard to start a new habit (if you make make the habit visible, obvious, easy, satisfying, and attractive).

Is a whey powder like Gold Standard something I should be taking to supplement my exercising?

yes! I was recommended some of a particular brand and I bought twelve 5lb tubs when it went on sale for $40 about a year ago during amazon prime days. You should absolutely take the whey within 1 hour of working out because that hits optimal muscle protein synthesis timing. (or take it to replace breakfast since you’re trying to lose weight)

I’m mid-40s and went from 380 to 240 in the past 24 months. I also somehow became significantly stronger during those 24 months which I would have believed to be impossible when losing weight with not much motivation to gain muscle. I only became motivated about 6-7 weeks ago after noticing that my current muscle hypertrophy protocols are working. 💪

This is a test comment only (I’ve been inactive for 2 years and wish to come back and participate). I’m a huge enthusiast of fitness and I’m currently on a PPL program but wishing to downgrade because my brain can’t handle the intensity (CNS fatigue or maybe some other reason) while still maintaining the same level of focus on other aspects of my life and daily responsibilities.

I am still learning lemmy. This is a test comment.

test

(I am new to Lemmy)

Here is the paywall-free version: https://archive.ph/fBFRe

From google: A covert narcissist displays more subtle signs of narcissism, like hypersensitivity to criticism, chronic envy or jealousy, gaslighting, lack of empathy, and feelings of superiority. Unlike most narcissists, who can be grandiose and outgoing, covert narcissists are often introverted and better at hiding feelings of self-importance. This can make it easier to fall victim to their problematic behaviors.

This is my first comment, hurray me! 😁