Gains goblins. Those things in your life that rob you of what otherwise would be your hard-earned gains on strength, muscle size, endurance or whatever other thing you want to develop by training.
It can be anything: a person (like that gym bro that maybe distracts you more than it's good for you), a medical condition, a commitment, or what is usually most common (and be honest here, because for most people it is one in this category), a bad habit of yours, amongst others.
Feel free to share.
Periodically I get depressed (more than usual), stop exercising and my muscles waste away
Same here
Also I live in a country in the southern hemisphere where the heat takes away my desire to do anything, let alone exert myself and raise my body temperature
Not wanting to dedicate my life to getting fit. When I started working out I had this idea that I needed to be as ripped as possible otherwise I had failed gym life. I'd be at the gym five times a week. I'd spend my days trying to figure out how to get as much gains as possible. I made 800 kcal disgusting smoothies made out of ice, peanut butter, protein powder, dates and what not. You could cement a house with those bad boys. I'd skip going out with friends because the thought of having a drink while out in a bar gave me anxiety because I thought that it would destroy all my progress of the week.
I got ripped because of it. I got strong. But mentally it made me a wreck because everything I was doing, I did it for the gainz.
Now I work out to stay healthy and active and to remain strength. If I want to go out a day after a workout or if I don't have a workout during the week I don't freak out anymore. I have found a much healthier balance for myself which allows me to be far more consistent. And I have a much healthier relationship with food now. Have a drink if you feel like it. Have a cheat day, whatever. It's not going to magically destroy every gain you have ever made.
Sure I could be bigger in terms of muscle right now but that is not my goal anymore.
That doesn't sound like a gains goblin. It would be if it was an obstacle between you and your fitness goal, but you seem to be exactly where you want to be.
Yeah now that I think about it you're right. A better example may be overcrowded gyms. I used to go in the evenings and it would be so busy to the point of not being able to do certain exercises because they gym was closing. Glad I can work out at home right now.
Infrastructure. My main exercise is cycling to and from work because I don't like exercise, but the cycling infrastructure in my city is shite (some of the best in Britain, which says a lot about how bad it is elsewhere). Potholes, cycle paths that suddenly merge into a dual carriageway, and a complete lack of the maintenance roads get, like sweeping and gritting.
So last winter I got wiped out by black ice and hurt my leg, stopping me from cycling for a few days, and last week I got wiped out by rotten leaves from last autumn, which wrecked my derailleur and has put the bike in the shop for a week. Doesn't just steal my gains, but either my money getting taxis home from work or my time by waiting up to an hour for a bus.
I have probably more than one, but my silliest and, at the same time, most annoying one is an object: my wireless earbuds. I cannot put my phone one meter away without losing signal and my music cutting out. Not even carrying it in my pocket works, and at the end of my training session I have lost a ridiculous amount of time trying to get those things to work by turning them on and off again or resetting them. I would buy new ones, but alas, there's no money for that.
You can get pretty good Chinese iems for a price that's not all that expensive. They'll probably be wired but you won't have to fiddle with them so much.
Both my airbuds and phone are Chinese already and they are both malfunctioning terribly despite the fact that I have only had them for 2 years at most. I guess one day I'll just have to renew my electronics and compensate the expense with soups for dinner for a few weeks.
At this point, age I think. Don't want to doxx myself, but I'm thoroughly middle aged and I think I've maxed out what I can do without gear given my age. I'm almost at a three plate one rep max for bench, 435 lbs squat, almost 500 lbs deadlift. Without juicing or at least testosterone supplementation, I think this is probably about the best I can do. Which is fine, I'm plenty strong for someone that just wants to be strong and isn't an athlete or something.
I’m almost at a three plate one rep max for bench, 435 lbs squat, almost 500 lbs deadlift.
Those are some good lifts at any age. For what I see, in this community we have an overall higher level than the one I expected there to be.
Thanks. And yeah, I agree. There are some seriously strong folks here and it's nice to see.
My job. Working a blue collar job where you have to walk 15-20k steps a day is good I suppose for burning calories, but at the end of the day it's tough to add any sort of cardio or muscle building before or after the day. I try biking to and from work but then I'm really zapped and spend my evenings just lying around barely able to cook dinner. I have some light weights which I do sitting which is decent.
