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muslimmetalhead
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11 Nov 2012, 9:47 am

I have noticed that if I don't lift for a couple of days, I quickly lose the strength (read:lighter weights) I have been building for the last couple WEEKS, I think this is due to the lack of focus I put in to the exercise, that is, I CAN'T put a lot of focus into whatever I'm doing.

I try, but I just can't get it up. And it doesn't even hurt. That's what I mean by I can't focus. Like I feel like there's something left, but it's just not usable.
Do you understand?

So I can only put a little bit in, and I reap what I can sow. So I do it everyday.

I am quite sure this has to do with Aspergers, my age-peers have much more stamina than I do, even when I played football, I couldn't get much stronger than the freshmen, though I spend extra two hours at the gym and I ate a lot of protein-rich stuff,so it's not for lack of trying.


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kotshka
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11 Nov 2012, 10:30 am

Yeah I have the same problem. No matter how hard I work to try to get in shape or get stronger, the progress is painfully slow and if I stop for even a single day I seem to lose it all. I think it has something to do with dyspraxia. Poor muscle tone is one of the issues, although I know it doesn't affect everyone on the spectrum, just some of us. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_skills_disorder

I went on a 4-day hike a few years ago with a bunch of kids (12-15 years old) and two other adults. I could never walk very far without slowing down and feeling the desperate need to rest. My backpack felt heavier with every passing second and I couldn't comprehend how everyone was able to keep moving like that. After the first day they had to distribute most of my stuff among the little kids to speed me up a bit because they were so sick of waiting for me. Mortifying.



1000Knives
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11 Nov 2012, 1:10 pm

Well, part of your problem I think is lack of a real routine. Noobies can make a lot of gains just by messing around so to speak, I sure did, but without a routine, it's easy to go into the two extremes, one of "overtraining" and the other of not doing enough. It's very pointless, I find, to go to the gym based on how you "feel," and this is what makes a routine better. You're going to the gym, to do stuff at certain percentages for certain number of reps, and you're gonna do it. It's that simple. It has to get done. I notice after starting an actual routine I feel a lot less tired during the day and stuff, because they're designed to introduce your body to a regular workload. This goes along with focus. Your body likes regularity. With any activity, your body has to get used to something. It can't get used to doing something if it's not done regularly, and by regularly I mean consistently.

So pick a routine out, any routine, it pretty much doesn't even matter what you're doing, as long as you do a routine. Go to the gym and do wtf it says, then get out and go home and play video games or something. You can modify the routine a bit, or even make one yourself, as long as you actually do it as planned. Andy Bolton, one of the few 1000lb deadlifters in the world, basically gave this as advice to new people. He also says don't switch your routine up prematurely. Stick through the routine for the weeks it's going through 'til it's done, then try something else.


So find a routine that works on the lifts you want, on a certain number of days a week. Probably find a routine that's 3-4 days a week. Me, I'm doing Smolov squat routine currently, and trying (I don't know if I'll succeed) in using the same rep scheme from the squat routine for my standing overhead press. On off days I either just stay home, or if I go to the gym, I work on upper body exercises, or cardio. Off days are where I can screw around and do whatever, but you have to get into a "groove" of a routine.

Anyway, my focus problem is the opposite of your's. I wanna just lift the heaviest thing possible, don't even wanna warm up, and HATE doing higher reps (to me high reps is over like 3, I suck.) So in a sense I end up hyperfocusing, but then burn myself out too quickly. Looks like you got the opposite problem.

Also, for protein and whatnot, I don't think it matters too much. Just make sure you're eating enough to have energy to get through workouts and your day, and don't worry about it too much. Don't eat like McDonalds everyday, but just like, eat. Also, too much protein/meat (you do need some) will acidify the body and make you sick.