u/AcceptableProcess23

AoE2 was my favourite game as a child. Two decades later, I decided to jump back in and try the 1v1 ladder. I had a blast, but the 1000 starting ELO did not match my actual skill level. I lost my first 17 games straight, unable to defend against any remotely well-executed rush in feudal age. I tanked all the way down to 364 ELO before I could finally win half my games.

Fast forward three months and hundreds of games, and I've now cracked the 1100 ELO milestone. My ELO progression wasn't always linear since I've experimented with many different strategies and civs. But my general skills and knowledge have improved steadily ever since.

A few additional insights on my progression:

• Learning Curve: I'm new to RTS but not to gaming (I'm top 1% in the games I play seriously). My potential is nowhere near as high in this setting, though. Multitasking is brutal.
• Playstyle: My army micro and strategy are trailing—probably still at an 800 ELO level. I almost never succeed with feudal aggression. Instead, I win by absorbing pressure, out-booming my opponents, and closing out with imperial siege.
• Civ picks: I don't main a single civ; I've played double-digit games with 13 different civs. My best civ is the Vietnamese. They have good eco bonuses, and they have an answer to basically every army composition with either skirms/fire lancers or rattan archers/light cav.
• Knowledge Gap: AoE2 is amazingly deep

. Even after hundreds of games, I

• still

frequently

• lose games simply because I don't know t

he right

• counters to specific unique or regional units. The new South American civs are particularly frustrating.

Hello all—posting once more for some help with my form. I’ve started bench pressing ~11 weeks ago, and I’m having persistent issues with maximal or near-maximal efforts (>95% 1RM). I frequently lose my balance due to my feet slipping, and I’m not sure how to prevent the bar from bouncing when I bring it down to my chest for a paused rep. Note that I can manage these issues reasonably well when I take off some weight. And one of the main reasons why I struggle to improve with my 1RM form specifically is that I come close to fainting on every such attempt, which makes me lose my ability to focus on leg drive, upper back tightness, etc.

Any tips would be appreciated!

After restarting lifting around mid-March following 8 years detrained, I just did a relatively clean (I think?) touch-and-go bench press with 315lbs. I know my form still leaves a lot to be desired—minimal leg drive, bar going down too fast (it felt much slower doing it!), etc. I’m still working on my form and making noob gains, and my paused bench press looks significantly better.

Further context: 5’11”, 210lbs. I wanted to get into shape after turning 30, so I began lifting 2-3x a week as well as some running about two months ago. I did not follow a program; I just did multiple sets of 1-4 reps near or until failure, with spoto press and paused sets more recently. I do have comprehensive athletic background (hockey), and I am not new to the bench press. My most extensive bench press training was ~2x/week for about 6 months around a decade ago. My PR back then was 265lbs, but I weighed 20lbs less (very lean, <10% bf), never trained for 1RM, and used little arch/no leg drive at all. Zero supplements at the time.

I have done limited to no weight lifting or bench press ever since—maybe 3–5 times a year on average, and I have gone up to a full year doing nothing at all aside from occasional push ups. Still, I kept most of my underlying strength thanks to the additional bodyweight and reaching physical maturity, so my 1RM when I restarted 9 weeks ago was 255. I am *very* fast-twitch dominant, and most of my early gains are neuromuscular in nature. I am taking creatine and protein, which seem to be quite helpful. I have gained about 5 pounds overall since mid-March—mostly water from initial creatine intake, and minor recomp after that.

I would appreciate some help with my bench press. As you can see, my right elbow drifted wide, and I had to reposition my feet to catch it. This is 305lbs, but it also happens at much lower weights to a lesser extent.

My recurring issue is weakness on the right side between 0-2” over my chest. I worked on flexibility as there was tightness in my anterior deltoid initially, and it helped somewhat—no more tightness, and the imbalance is less pronounced. I am right-handed, and I would be very surprised if my right pec/shoulder were inherently weaker relative to the left side. I restarted training about two months ago after an 8-year hiatus, and I had never experienced this issue previously.

Any thoughts?