My primary goal at the moment is to add more upper body muscle and ultimately get my body fat below 20%.
Discussion
Similar journey sir. What worked for me was daily measurement using smart Ish bathroom scales. Treat carbs as entertainment. Walk your dog twice per day even if you don’t have one. Eat in an 8 hour window. Lift a few times a week.
Would you consider setting functional goals? Like gaining the ability to lift x times your body weight or run y distance in z minutes?
We are all tempted by physical appearance goals, but trust that they will come too. I’m of course not in your head so have no idea what your true motivations are, but functional goals usually produce more lasting lifestyle change.
Either way, I wish you an injury free health journey.
#grownostr
I dunno, seems more arbitrary to me because I don't really see a need to be able to to X or Y. I'm mostly focused on directional trend and figuring out how much I can accomplish with the least amount of time investment.
That’s fair.
The beauty of function directed exercise though is that you typically get back whatever time you invest in it (barring injury of course). It literally makes you more efficient at everything you do. I experienced this myself in medical school when I thought I was too busy to exercise. The sleep quality gains are priceless by themselves. :)
I think of vanity based approaches kinda like a shitcoin (if you’ll forgive the analogy). They don’t last because we all get old and our bodies necessarily change over time.
Function based exercise is like Bitcoin though. Seems slow and boring at first but in the end, is just far superior to everything else. :)
I love the process of getting up every morning and getting out on the water for an hour or two (I’m a rower).
That training is hard work but it never feels like work to me mentally which is why I’m able to do it every day.
I think way too many people pursue an X or Y without knowning, “why” which leads to them burning out and not building lifelong habits.
Functional goals are short term thinking, IMO. The habit of exercising and pushing yourself at least a little bit each workout (but not to the point where it becomes unenjoyable) is what drives long-term benefits. The functional goals will come naturally if you build the habit.