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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   1461 thread views

Wellness Wednesday for March 18, 2026

The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:

  • Requests for advice and / or encouragement. On basically any topic and for any scale of problem.

  • Updates to let us know how you are doing. This provides valuable feedback on past advice / encouragement and will hopefully make people feel a little more motivated to follow through. If you want to be reminded to post your update, see the post titled 'update reminders', below.

  • Advice. This can be in response to a request for advice or just something that you think could be generally useful for many people here.

  • Encouragement. Probably best directed at specific users, but if you feel like just encouraging people in general I don't think anyone is going to object. I don't think I really need to say this, but just to be clear; encouragement should have a generally positive tone and not shame people (if people feel that shame might be an effective tool for motivating people, please discuss this so we can form a group consensus on how to use it rather than just trying it).

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Every year around this time, between the increasing warmth and seeing plenty of other elder Millennials with their terrible beards, I'm tempted to shave off mine. I have a jawline and I keep a short one (I don't have a big glorious one like some posters here), so the costs of going clean-shaven are small, but even so, the title to this song repeats in my head any time I shave it off.

Did my first ever dexa scan. To my surprise, 22% body fat. I was expecting 17-19% given my physique and weight (I'm 6'3 165lbs), but I think I must've been duped by my fat distribution. My arms and legs are in the 15-18% range while my trunk (torso) is 20-26%. Was also surprised by how symmetrical left and right side of my body were. My left side was, what felt like significantly, weaker than my right side but turns out the difference is 0.3lbs in lean mass for arms and 0.2lbs for legs, which is very little. Overall, money very well spent ($50). Goal is to get down to 18%-ish by summer through recomp. Will do better job tracking my nutrition, I'm assuming in my default state I don't consume enough protein and too many carbs, and will add an additional hour long walk 3-4 times a week to target fat burn.

Holy shit that's pretty crazy. I'm 185 or so and feel... fit? I feel like at 165 I'd look great.

My man I have one inch and 130lbs on you - are we the same species ?

Perhaps not. Heaviest I've been was 188lbs and my face was so round even my grandma said I should lay off the food, I can't imagine being above 200lbs on my frame.

What the actual…

When I lost a lot of weight a decade ago and was around 188 lbs, even doctors were telling me that I had no reason to lose more weight. And I’m 5’11.

are we the same species ?

Yearling black bear cub vs 10+ year old male.

Question for those more experienced at the gym: If focusing on hypertrophy, is it better to start with the heaviest weight I can lift and manage 6-8 reps before having to do a drop set, or is it better to use a lower weight where I can do 10x3 without becoming absolutely exhausted till near the end? To clarify, the initial approach doesn't involve a single extended set, but I find that if I do this, I have to use progressively lower weights to finish.

My understanding is that my approach is likely suboptimal, unnecessarily fatiguing at the very least. But I'm curious about experiences.

I have a favorite set-rep system (from Andy Bolton, IIRC).

  1. Start with a weight which you can do 5 x 5, then slowly progress up to 10 x 5 (sets x reps).
  2. Then increase to 10 x 6 (10 sets of 6 reps each) and progress to 10 x 10.
  3. Once you can do that three times, increase weight.

Timing: there are two ways

  1. EMOM (every minute on minute) = when the seconds hand strikes 12, you start, complete the set, and rest for rest of the minute. At next 12 strike, you start the next set.
  2. 30X0 with 60-120 sec rest. For a biceps curl, read this as:
  • (3) from completely flexed position with the dumbbell in hand, you extend the weight slowly over 3 seconds = eccentric phase
  • (0) at the end of complete extension you don't wait and immediately start the next flexion,
  • (X) you do the flexion as fast as possible = concentric phase,
  • (0) at top you don't stop for next extension.

Apply that with any weight and any exercise.

Do what you like doing.

Unless you're entering a comp, the hypertrophy focused sets will get you stronger, and the strength focused sets will make you bigger. Compound lifts should form the core of your work, and assistance work can target the lagging muscle groups in between if you feel the need.

These kinds of aesthetics vs performance details are ultimately unimportant.

Research suggests heavier weight and low reps (6-8 is perfect) is usually the sweet spot. But consistency and form is what's most important. The weight must be heavy enough where you can stick to proper form. If you go too heavy, you may be able to lift that weight but if the form is suboptimal you're gonna get injured or you're working out the wrong muscle.

This is a second order consideration. More total volume (reps * weight) matters more than how it's distributed. I don't even mean to over-index on that formula. Just in the broadest sense of "more work, more reward."

Do whatever makes you most likely to consistently lift. For me, that's medium (8) to high (15-20) reps at lower weight - I think it's more fun and less stressful re: form. I also think a babysitter trainer is worth paying for, even just occasionally, for accountability as much as anything. You may be able to convince your insurance to help.

I did have a trainer, sadly he was very expensive and I did not go often enough while I had him to benefit significantly. But I do have a gym-freak brother, who does his best to keep me honest, and I'm well past the annoying few days of DOMS that often cuts my return to the gym short.

You may be able to convince your insurance to help.

I don't have insurance, at least in the UK. There's probably a plan in India, now that I think about it. But this strikes me as unusual, is insurance known to cover a trainer or PT in the absence of a clear medical indication? I am merely lazy, not physically unwell!

Thanks for explaining. I am surprised that someone named lagrangian doesn't extend the principle of least action to not going to the gym, but I'm not complaining,

I have a home gym and recurring calendar event for my in-home trainer/PT, on autopay. Claude pulls my calendar and generates receipts for insurance. Least action indeed.

I have some genuine/chronic physical therapy needs such that the insurance case is straightforward, but it's not impossible to find an excuse and/or morally flexible PT (conveniently, this can stand for either physical therapist or personal trainer).

Can you say more about how you have Claude set up to monitor your calendar?

In the rare instances where I'm aiming for hypertrophy rather than pure strength, my best results come from total volume.

As a rule of thumb, I multiply weight times total reps and try to maximize that final number.

I could lift 1 kg for longer than I could bother to keep counting the reps, but I get what you mean haha. Thanks!

Just generally try to do a bunch of hard sets.

The advice seems reasonable, but I'm a chronic noob and I'd appreciate clarification on what exactly counts as a hard set. Does it mean that I'm spent by the time I reach the last set?

I like AthleanX's 'effective reps' concept

you can do something called effective reps. This style of workout is highly intense and ensures that you are not only going to, but you are going through failure as well. You start with an ignition set of 10-12 reps then you rest up to 30 seconds and start your reps again to failure. Now, you will find that the number of reps you can do in a set will come down from 10-12 to about 7-9. Once you reach failure, you will again rest up to 30 seconds before you start your reps again to failure. Now, you might only get 4 or 5, then maybe 2 or 3 after that. You keep going in this fashion until your targeted number of effective reps are reached

tl;dr: Every set should have a few reps that feel hard. If you aren't grinding out the last few reps, then that isn't a hard set.

My definition of grinding out a rep = Proper grimace, rep needs perfect breathing and a few optional groans.

The only exception is RDLs (or any deadlift), where I stay below failure to avoid breaking my back.
Another exception is hack-squats (or any squat). Here, the 1st set is never that hard and the last set feels like death regardless.

Effective reps is probably wrong.

This is gold.

I find it useful as a yardstick, not an absolute. Generally agree with the article.

For starters, I think there’s a pretty large kernel of truth to the general idea of “effective reps.” I think the “hard” version of the idea (“the last 5 reps before failure are all the matters”) has major problems, but a “soft” version of the idea is almost self-evidently true. To maximize hypertrophy on a per-set basis, you do almost certainly have to get somewhat close to failure, in basically any context I can think of. If you can do 12 reps with a certain weight, doing 3 sets of 10 is almost guaranteed to get you more growth than doing 3 sets of 3.

unsurprisingly, stopping each set REALLY far from failure did compromise hypertrophy.

Altogether, these studies support the idea that in order to maximize growth on a per-set basis, you do need to be reasonably close to failure, but actually reaching failure probably isn’t necessary, especially for trained lifters.

Yeah, that's good advice.

Hmm. I tend to go for the heaviest weights I can, as soon as I can. The sense of progression is encouraging, but I might be overdoing it. I also avoid deadlifts because I have the impression the risk of injury is concerning, and I would not pretend to have perfect form. Thanks! This is helpful.

I tend to go for the heaviest weights I can, as soon as I can.

I also avoid deadlifts because I have the impression the risk of injury is concerning

Those two are related!

Anyway, form is more important than weight. Not just for injury, but also to make sure you're actually progressing and not just finding new ways to cheat that will bite you in the ass (while also probably killing your mind-muscle connection gains). Your goal is not to get the weight from point A to point B, it's to do the lift. You won't progress as fast in the numbers, but you'll progress a lot better in the mirror.

There's some interesting science behind the speed of your lifts - that is, the velocity of the bar on its way back up. In short, the last few reps before you reach your limit will be notably slower, with the very last being a struggle session. You don't need to reach that last blow-out set to see results, in fact I would recommend to avoid it unless you have a spotter, but you do need to reach the point where you feel yourself slowing down in order to get good results. That's also why too light of a weight, even lifted 1000 times, is just cardio.

High quality sets refer to those that employ exercises that are likely going to be limited by the muscle you’re trying to train, through the longest range of motion you can maintain with safe form, taken within 2-3 reps of failure*, and performed when you’re adequately recovered from your previous set (generally around 1.5-2 minutes of rest for isolation lifts, and 3-5+ minutes for heavy compound lifts).

I learned this week that I was waking up multiple times in the middle of the night with a scratchy throat and an increasingly worsening headache due to dehydration.

I almost never feel thirsty anymore but given my level of running and lifting I should be drinking about 100 ounces of water a day and I was coming nowhere near that. As a corollary, I did a long run on Saturday and made sure to drink water before and actively during and it was the first time I finished one without a headache.

Who knew? Not me!

The individual human body + brain unit is usually very good at telling you how much to drink without much difficulty, but some stuff can throw this out of balance. Excess exercise absolutely can (this is what sports drinks were for!). Getting older can too, and for the elderly it starts to get to be a real problem.

An ego flattering example: getting tougher, makes it easier to ignore signals to drink (and then...problems).

Monitoring the color of your urine is a good way to outsource for most people.

Makes sense.

Monitoring the color of your urine is a good way to outsource for most people.

I've spent a lot of time camping in the desert (re: festivals) and the common recommendation was to drink water until you piss clear. That's a good heuristic but my pee hadn't been particularly dark.

I learned this week that I was waking up multiple times in the middle of the night with a scratchy throat and an increasingly worsening headache due to dehydration.

My problem that I've discovered is a bad headache like clockwork every Tuesday morning. Except on holiday weekends, then it's Wednesday morning. Pretty sure it's going from 2-3 days not staring at a computer screen to a full day at work staring at a stupid screen. Breaks and walking around don't seem to help. Wish it were as easy to fix as drinking more water (the obvious and simple solution is quitting my job, but that's not easy).

If it's muscles - fix your posture, adjust your screens and keyboard position, make sure your body is relaxed and not hunched over as you work, and your arms at a natural height and distance (keyboard neither too far away from the torso, nor too high up). If you have one of those fancy adjustable desks, convert it to a standing desk at least once a day for an hour or two.

If it's eyes, then make sure your eyeballs are far enough from the screens (consider turning up the font size or zoom factor for readability). If you need glasses, wear them and ensure they're still the right ones for you. Regularly look away from the screen at at something in the distance.

There might be an ergonomics expert in your company. If so, talk to them.

And if taking breaks and walking around doesn't help, then take more breaks and walk around more. I usually take short walk through the office before and after each meeting, and about every half-hour otherwise.

Have you considered staring at a screen all weekend to keep consistent?

More seriously, have you played around with lighting types, e.g. blue light filter?

More seriously, have you played around with lighting types, e.g. blue light filter?

I have not. Didn't know that was a thing, so I'm investigating now.

Have a look at f.lux (Windows), Redshift (Linux), or Twilight (Android). I assume there are similar for Apple devices too. I think Windows has incorporated the feature into the OS settings now but I prefer f.lux.

It's always illuminating (pun not intended) to briefly switch f.lux off at night and see the difference.

The only issue I've had is that Twilight is an overlay. Android considers that a security issue and can be a total shit about not actually telling you why it won't let you enter a login to Google Play.

Android has OS level support for this for a few years now.

I think Windows has incorporated the feature into the OS settings now but I prefer f.lux.

Work computer, so I can't install software, but perhaps cranking down the blue light in the Windows settings will help.

I use B&W mode on my phone but I'll look at Twilight as well.

Moving from India to Scotland made me dramatically less thirsty. I used to gulp down at least a liter or two in the former, in the latter, I can get through a whole day with maybe 3 or 4 glasses of water. Well, I guess I can assume that my internal hydration detectors are reasonably well calibrated.

What are you, 30kg?

I drink about 3-4 liters a day - in the German winter!

Look, I piss clear all the time, so I'm pretty sure it's fine. I drink when I'm thirsty. I'm sure when it's a hot summer day and I don't have AC around, I do hit 3 liters plus in India.

How long was your run on Saturday?

My water bottle is 750-1000ml and I will always refill it at least once during a gym session, even if I'm only doing strength training and no cardio. I can't even imagine trying to exercise without drinking lots of water.

I've noticed I don't sweat much during strength training, and not very much during cardio. I can get away with maybe 300ml intake within an hour without feeling the need for more.

I don't sweat nearly as much during strength training as I do during cardio, but I still get very thirsty very quickly.

16 miles

I had a 12oz glass of water with salt in the morning and brought 60oz with me.

So more than a half-marathon? And you used to run that without drinking any water on the way?

Depending on the temperatures one runs in, that doesn't strike me as obviously too little. I used to live in a very hot place and do sunrise runs of up to 15 miles without carrying water.

well, when you put it that way it sounds kind of stupid

I just never felt thirsty :/

I'm not even making fun of you, I'm just amazed that you even attempted it without. I think I physically could not run more than 10 km (~6.2 miles) without drinking a lot of water. If I tried running a half-marathon without water I'm sure I'd just collapse.

Yeah. No matter how much research I do on running and lifting I feel like I miss basics like this all of the time. I would feel like shit after a run without water but I guess I thought it was normal? Just pain that I need to push through? Ho hum.

It took me a very long time to get better at running economy during races, like not flaming out immediately in the first mile and a half during a 5k.

My bottle is more like 500ml and I usually don't finish it during the workout. It seems like I get a lot less sweaty than the soaked-wifebeater kind of guys you can see at the gym. Don't know if I'm not giving it my all or that's just how my body works.

New year's resolutions check-in:

  • Posted my seventh blog post of the year on Sunday, about attachment styles and infant mortality. Cross-posted here.
  • Went to the gym twice last week. After writing the aforementioned blog post, I changed into my gym gear and was about to leave for the gym when my girlfriend pointed out that it closes at 7:30 on Sundays. Aghast: last week was the first week of the year I didn't go to the gym at least three times. To compensate, I'm going to go four times this week (and it must be this week: I'm not going to kick the can down the round indefinitely). Can deadlift 1.8x my bodyweight for 3 reps, squat 1.03x for 5 reps and bench press .85x for 6 reps.
  • Have not consumed any pornography since waking up on January 1st.
  • Have completed 10/11 modules in the SQL course. Planning to do the eleventh today.

How goes it, @thejdizzler, @birb_cromble, @falling-star and @Tollund_Man4?

No progress between the last post and this Wednesday (St. Patrick's Day), doing well since.

Spending is $1,743.64 less than this time last year. The terrible weather has been helping with that.

Monday is the big dental appointment, which is probably going to cost about $4,000. That's going to wreck my progress for a while. I'm trying to decide if any insurance reimbursement that I get next month should be subtracted from spending or considered income.

Good blog post dude.

  1. Work: Started writing my thesis last week. A bit overwhelmed with experiments/planning. Need to do less each day.

  2. Fitness: 11 hours last week, had a great workout this morning. HRV is still a little depressed so gotta make sure I take my recovery days easy.

  3. Intellectual Stuff: Limiting myself to one YouTube video and one blog post a day. Focusing on US history in English, and reading fiction in the Spanish and Italian. In the spirit of Cal Newport trying to only do one of these each day (Spanish, Italian, history reading) and give my full attention to it.

  4. Finances: Expenses are really low this month. As detailed in the main thread, sold quite a bit of my index funds and stocks and put the money into a combination of American oil stocks and CDs. I exaggerated a little the scale of the sale: I still kept most of my shipping and rail stocks, as well as Ebay, Takeda, and ADM, the later of which are a Pharma and farming company respectively. Parent's still haven't figured out how to transfer me shares, but they are going to the brokerage next Tuesday. Once they do and there is more clarity on the Iran situation I'm going to buy my friend's 2005 Toyota Camry for $1,000 or so.

  5. Dating: Met a girl at my friend's thesis defense party and we got coffee on Sunday. First time I've had fun on a first date for a while. She's moving to the UK for a PhD in the fall, but we'll see where it goes in the next few weeks.

  6. Tarot: Didn't do this week.

  7. Socializing: Saw Hoppers last night, Workout Wednesday, and my friend Simon is coming to stay this week Screen time: 1.4 hours.

  8. Mental health: have been very anxious for some reason (probably overwhelmed with different goals), so want to work on this. Taking Ashwaganda helps, but also think I need to stay away from arguing with people on the internet.

How are the shipping stocks doing so far? I've been curious about that

I'm up 200% on $ZIM, which I bought for the Dividends back in 2023. They are supposed to be sold at $35/share at the end of the year to a German shipping company so will make even more money if I don't chicken out and sell before then. My other large position is $SB which mainly runs a Panama Canal route. They're doing pretty well too. I also have $KEK which makes river barges for oil transport and $TNK, both of which have been getting bodied by the war.

I also have $KEK

Based.

Oh, hell, new year's resolutions? Mine's always the same - compete in as many HEMA tournaments as I can afford.

I'm currently scheduled to participate in two longsword competitions in May. There would've been another in April, but it's tied into a larger multi-day event that ends up costing far more than my budget allows. A friend suggested the London open longsword tournament, but that's completely out of scope. There should be more later this year, and I really have to go and do my due dilligence in checking up on which ones, where, for how much, and when the applications open.

As far as preparations go, meh.

I still don't have any formal training I can go to with any regularity (driving 3-4h at hours I would normally sleep at, just for 2-3h of technical training, no way.), I missed the full-day open fencing day last month because I was still recovering from surgery, which is a shame, because it was me who instigated that particular event in the first place, but that's what I get for handing it off to others. I could go to sparring meetups on weekends, but that's still 3-4h of driving and would ultimately take up most of a weekend day, and the family does not look kindly upon me being gone all week for work and then also absent on weekends.

I'm working a little more on general fitness. I have been climbing stairs very aggressively. I considered swimming again, but decided against it because the local pool is cold as hell and swimming is boring. I took to doing some very aggressive 20-minute bike rides, set the goal of climbing the hill I live on via bike in one go, and made it. Since then I've somewhat slackened on biking due to worse weather, but it's improving and I should pick it back up again. I started doing regular kettlebell curls, but my strategy of "just do one set until failure whenever it occurs to me", which ends up being 2-4 times a day, is probably not ideal. Kettlebell swings similarly, but I put those on hold due to knee issues. Calisthenics, with squats, burpees, lunges, pushups, legraisers etc. I also do on a "whenever I feel like it" basis, picking exercises based on whichever parts of me currently hurt the least. All of this is admittedly very haphazard, but I'm seeing some improvements, though surely not what they could be, so I'll claim a solid better-than-nothing. The wife and I are also planning to sign up to a gym, but I wouldn't bet on that materializing.

For the technical side of things, since I'm not getting anywhere for actual HEMA practice, I signed up for a trial run at a local jujutsu club. I intend to go there tomorrow evening. Curious to see what it's like. If it ends up being a dud, I'll probably take another stab at the nearby BJJ/Kickboxing/MMA. I'd prefer the club in principle, because it's a lot cheaper, but I'll see. I'm plannning some longsword drills for this afternoon, but I need an actual place to do them in! Right now I'm looking at a stretch of dirt road in the woods in between the shooting club and the garbage dump (sorry, the "valuable materials yard"), but not sure if it's ideal. I'm halfway inclined to just do it in the local park and maybe even attract potential sparring partners that way, but that's a very long shot since I have negative charisma and no second set of protective gear, and with a little bad luck I'll just get picked up by the police.

Six weeks until the first tournament. It's in high hayfever season, but I picked up new antiallergens that are supposed to not cause fatigue. A fellow fencer also recommended those, so I have high hopes. Last year in the same tournament, I ate antihistamines like candy and ended up so drowsy I got myself beaten by a little girl. Would prefer to avoid that outcome this time.

Doing competitive niche martial arts in the countryside with no budget, no fitness, no idea of what I'm doing, and getting too old for it. Yes, this is the life.

I have been climbing stairs very aggressively.

I'm not quite sure of the maximally aggressive way to climb stairs. I have this image of a Teutonic figure ein-drei-zwei-ing his way up and down 10 flights for half an hour, moustache bristling, possibly with a longsword slung over his shoulders.

Two steps at a time, pushing off with the back foot in imitation of a lunge, and starting the next one as soon as the lead foot lands. Moustache bristling indeed, but no longswords at work (no stairs at home, but plenty in the office). And it's eins-zwei-drei.

Duly noted. It's one of those terrible language things where the correct answer appears in your mind and then you think, 'hang on, I remember getting this wrong before,' and then you swap it round and you get it wrong and the whole ghastly cycle repeats.

Anyway, keep up the good work!

Honestly, this shouldn't be so difficult. One-Two-Three and Eins-Zwei-Drei are clearly related, after all. Can't you heard the similarity?

Yeah, I see it. Will do better next time :)

Congrats, it sounds like you’re doing well.

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