u/stratusnimbo

I have been baking sourdough for a while now. It feels like whenever I follow a recipe to a T it doesn’t turn out nearly as well when I just stop caring lol. Like the loaves that always turn out the best are the ones where I forget how many stretch and folds I did, don’t temp the dough, wing the bulk ferment, and shape up willy nilly with no tutorial. Those late night loaves where I planned poorly and just get the dough shaped and in the fridge without tracking shying always turn out the best. I genuinely don’t get it.

I work with a coach as a recreational bodybuilder and so I take check in photos every 2 weeks in a few standard poses for assessment. Every time I’m initially reviewing the photos I don’t really feel great about how I look. But it’s always a few days later when I’ll be scrolling back through my camera roll and get a glimpse of the previous check ins and then all of a sudden I’m like wait what I look f*ckin sick…but never feel that way immediately after taking them. It’s even crazier when I look at photos of me at my leanest…in the moment I never appreciated how lean I actually was. It’s not til later I look back and realize how sick I looked. I wish I could appreciate the way I look when I look the way I do if that makes sense. Anyone else the same way?

What’s your favorite thing to do? Do you have a favorite route? What is it? Something else or other Zwift niches you enjoy? I am still fairly new and today I attempted the Alp Du Zwift for the first time and made it a little over half way before tapping out but it was so fun to climb through the map and now I have a goal to finish the whole climb. Looking to find some more fun ways to explore this platform! What are some of your favorites?

Hi everyone! I’m curious if there are any other serious weight lifters/bodybuilders who use Zwift? As a recreational bodybuilder myself I’m curious if anyone else is in the same boat, who uses Zwift to supplement their weight training. Do you structure your Zwift rides? How do you fit Zwift into your training split? Cheers all :)

For reference I’m 27 and only been training consistently for a couple years. I’m very curious what those of you who have been doing this 10, 15, 20 plus years more than me would tell your younger self.

After a solid Zwift ride what’s your go to post workout meal? I’m usually a protein oats w/ peanut butter and frozen berries guy. Or maybe some simple chicken/beef veggie and rice. What’s yours?

I recently traveled to Hawaii where I had a lot of poke bowls. What was so good is how simple it was. Lightly seasoned fish served over steamed white rice. That’s it. So simple and good. I don’t need all that extra toppings on there. Where can I find this in Denver?

Usually I do 100g cream of rice, 30g whey, 150g berries and a little peanut butter. What’s your go to pre workout meal? Looking for inspiration to switch mine up.

I really try to do same exact exercises/machines in the same exact order every session so I can standardize everything and track progression with the least amount of variables as possible. However this isn’t realistic or possible all the time when training in a busy gym. What do you do when the next machine/exercise in your program is taken? Let’s say the next exercise is a smith bench press, but it’s taken. Do you move on to the next exercise in your program and then come back when the desired machine is free? Or do you just go to the next closest thing like instead of smith bench you’d just hit the seated flat chest press. I guess the issue with this is it gets hard to track progression when this happens. How’d you approach this?

I recently finished 16 weeks of working with a coach. Started with an 8 week cut and then 8 weeks of gaining. Weekly check ins with video feedback, form critique, meal plan, split build etc. it was a great experience and I have seen some insane gains. However, this particular coach is pretty expensive, and I can’t afford it anymore, and I found a different coach that is more affordable for me. My question is - would it be dumb for me to get a brand new coach’s perspective? Or should I just keep going with the split/diet that my original coach had me on? On one hand I’m thinking “if it’s not broke don’t fix it” but also I really am curious to see what another qualified coach would tell me and think getting a fresh perspective excites me since I’ve been running the same exact program for 16 weeks. Curious if anyone has had experience changing coaches or how you would approach this? Cheers.

What is the right way to implement a “bro day” aka biceps and triceps day? Would you do Upper/Lower/Arms/RestUpper/Lower rest? Or Upper/Arms/Lower/Rest/Upper/Lower/rest?

I enjoy U/L but feel my arms aren’t getting the attention they need and want to implement a “bro day” of biceps and triceps only to bring them up, while also hitting them at the end of my upper days. How would you implement it?

I’m curious if any other recreational bodybuilders have worked with a coach. How was your experience? Do you still work with a coach? Why or why not?

I am a non-competitor and currently have no plans on competing (that could change). However, I recently finished 16 weeks of working with a coach to dial in my training and nutrition. Though it was expensive, it was pretty cool and productive to check in every week and track everything so diligently to really understand how my body responds to different training and nutritional approaches. I’ve never been so locked in, and the accountability aspect is great. However, near the end of it, it felt a bit “cookie cutter” and like I was just paying for someone to tell me to keep doing what I’m doing, and sort of unsure where to go from here. Should I continue the program they had me on? Find my own routine? Work with a different coach to get some new knowledge?

I’m curious if anyone has had any major breakthroughs, improvements, or gains from implementing a small change that made a big impact on your bodybuilding. This can be anything from nutrition to training adjustments or mentality to something completely non bodybuilding related. What’s yours?

For context I am 27m 5’11 170lbs. My current FTP is 210 - What is the “right way” to go for FTP increases? How often should it be attempted? I am a very casual Zwifter but do ride 3-4 days a week mainly just to supplement my weight training. Most of my rides are zone 2-3 for like 30 min to an hour. But like once every week or 2 at the beginning of a ride I just say screw it and try to go ham for 30 min to increase my FTP. No rhyme or reason. It’s never planned, just in the moment decision to have a more intense ride and good workout. Am I zwifting wrong??