So, the last week was very good for me.

I did three strength work out focussing mostly on upper body. Weighted push ups have been a great discovery for me because I 1) like to do them and 2) it is so far having a great effect on how my chest looks.

I also continued my runs. I did my second run of 4.5km run on sunday. I started off pretty quick with 5min25sec per km and I managed to slow down to an average of 6min11sec per km. I feel like with a good amount of training I will be able to set very decent times. To keep myself motivated I have registered myself for a 7km trail run next month and I might do a half marathon in october if I'm feeling up to it.

For some reason I can't find any recent posts on this sub, might be an error?

Anyway, its's back to the grind after a holiday for me. Started with upper body workout at home today, and I had fun doing weighted (incline) push ups. Tomorrow I will go running and do some leg exercises.

I have an increasing urge to start developing more useful physical strength with running and fighting, because I'm slightly paranoid about the increase of fascism in Western Europe. Many times I have urged the party to allow me to set up a physical development group in our party, but nothing much has come from it yet. Though I must say that before I used to do it because I thought it would be fun to lift with like minded tankies. But I might change my tone to urge the importance of at least some developed physical branch of the party in case shit hits the fan. My paranoia is probably fueled by recently reading books like The Jakarta Method and some fiction books in which war and riots suddenly break out. It would be naive of me to think it will not happen here and I'd rather be a bit paranoid and ready than surprised.

Anyway, how is your lifting going?

In the past week I have done several full body workouts.

After finding out that putting weights in my backpack and walking up and down the stairs was a good at home leg workout, I decided to start doing weighted push ups as well. Started with 10kg extra but I feel like being able to add more. I can go up to 25-27kg if needed.

For the next few weeks I will be going on a holiday and I won't be able to work out much. I'll probably do swimming and some body weight exercises from time to time to keep up routine.

The weather has turned from sunny, hot and dry to typical Belgian grey, rainy and stormy. This has made taking cold showers a bit harder, as it now is 15 degrees outside when I hop in. Nevertheless I still want to keep it up, as the challenge starts when it gets colder of course.

Since we're all a bunch of active tankies over here, I wanted to discuss the usage of supplements.

In Belgium/The Netherlands the majority of the fitfluencers have convinced their young audience that you won't be able to get ripped if you don't take their 40 euro pre workout filled with near lethal amounts of caffeine.

Of course, you don't need to take all these things in order to improve your physical health. I myself, for example, quit using supplements apart from some vitamin B and calcium supplements (mainly because I eat plant based food and you tend to get shortages of these two things faster). I used to take (vegan) protein shakes for a while but they always upset my stomach and I figured I might as well get my nutrients from food alone.

What kind of, if any, supplements do you take? And how does it benefit you?

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8882373/

Not so much workout related but still health related in a way. lol

The fiber in beans is already good for regulation blood sugar and digestion. Fermenting them would seem to be adding to this impact by greatly reducing the carb load and further increasing the fiber content. Not to mention the fact fermented beans won't give you gas because those compounds get fermented out as well. Also an 8% increase in protein value is nice to boot. Downside is a loss of some vitamin content but I'll take that trade off.

I'm interested in how it would impact something you can make tofu out of like soy or garbanzo beans. I actually have some garbanzo beans fermenting so I plan to try it out. I made a tofu out of regular rehydrated garbanzo beans by blending them up into a paste. Straining out the liquid which I cooked down. I steamed the solids to cook them then added them back into the liquid once it was thickened. Made a paste that was like mashed potatoes and glue. lol. Once cooled in the fridge though it made a pretty firm and cuttable tofu that had more texture than a normal tofu. Going to try the same technique but with the fermented beans instead and see what happens. lol

Weakest North Korean doing tricks

The world of fitness influencers is filled with weird right wing gymbros who can only seem to promote the mindset of a tumor (that is, constant and unending growth).

Growth, don't get me wrong, is a good thing to aspire when working out. You want to become stronger, fitter, healthier to some degree. However, I sort of miss balanced takes when looking for online fitness figures.

In The Netherlands we have Joel Beukers as the leading fitfluencer. He's known for his dramatic screaming into the camera and selling his own pre workout and protein shakes (filled with insane amounts of cafeine). Lately he's becoming a more AliExpress version of Andrew Tate it seems and things are starting to get to his head. Some time ago he made a vid about 'starting from the bottom' despite growing up in the ultra rich Gooi area of the country. He also drives around in Gold lambo's and stuff.

Anyway, my own goals have shifted from becoming a literal hulk with an eating disorder to maintaining a more balanced lifestyle while also working on my strength, cardio and agility. But I can't seem to find any good online figures to check out for tips. So far the only ones I keep watching are Joe Delaney for routines and Andrew Bernard for (vega) food tips.

So, what people do you guys follow?

Hi comrades

I want to start handling my nutrition and fitness better. I usually work out at home and can do pushups etc., I would say I'm quite underweight.

While I'm reading the guide by CriticalResist on Prolewiki, I decided to count my calories. I barely reach 1500 calories a day which at this point I'll go malnourished. I just feel full very quickly. I do not eat processed sugars and avoid sweets, and I'm basically vegan at this point.

I exercise too and can do push ups, squats etc with no problems whatsoever, though as expected I cannot build muscular mass, most likely because of my nutrition. I don't have the money to go to a gym so I want as much as possible to work out at home, I saw that calisthenics might be a good option? Though they seem unreliable for building muscle mass and strength. I want to put more weight but not fatty weight, which had happened to me in the past. I do eat healthy, but I eat way too less because I feel I just get full quickly. This might be due that in the past I was overweight and conditioned myself to not eat much, but now I'm basically starving myself.

How would I go about increasing my caloric intake while putting muscle mass (preferably at home)?

Greetings, comrades. So to cut the story short, my physical state is absolute junk and it's about time to do something about it. I am overweight and lose breath after going up s flight or two of stairs, my back hurts almost daily and lifting things heavier than a backpack is stating to feel hard. All the doctors say I require exercise to resolve most issues. However, due to long commute and a few other issues, I can't really visit gym on a regular basis (plus it's not cheap). So what can I do from home to stop being a useless blob of blubber? For reference, I have a set of dumbbells, but using them hurts tendons in my arms more than it seems to affect the muscles.

I am seeking advice from the comrades

Yoga gets dunked on a lot. Even more when you are a guy doing yoga. It is seen as a feminine and hippie kind of thing.

But that's a dumb way of thinking, of course.

Yoga is good for flexibility, training your balance, focussing on your breath and staying calm and it even trains strength. A daily yoga session of ten minutes can keep you stretched, flexible, and calm.

As I said, yoga for women is already pretty popular. I know multiple women who do yoga on a regular basis. Men, not so much. But I want to change that, and inspire men to step out of their comfort zone, break the patriarchic view of yoga and keep them fitter.

Who in here has experience with yoga already? Please share your tips and visions!

Fucking hell it's June already.

After a weekend of bike packing I fell ill with food poisoning and I was out for three days. I ate almost nothing and exercise was not possible. Tomorrow I will go back to the gym as usual though.

I've gotten used to the cold showers and it's pretty much a routine thing now. Can't say I feel lightyears better because of it, but since the weather is getting warmer it's sort of nice every morning.

Mental health is neutral-ish.

The energy crisis of the last year made me reflect on how I consume energy, mainly 'harmful' energy like gas. My appartment is heated using gas and due to the insane prices of the past year, I too lowered my heating. I spent a big part of december with the heating turned off but once it got to 8 degrees Celsius in my appartment I figured that I should turn on the heating. It was set to 13-15 degrees Celsius throughout the winter. It made me realize that I don't mind living in these temperatures. With a sweater on and underneath a blanket, it was actually quite comfortable. I also slept better in these temperatures than winters with the heating on.

So now that it's getting warmer again, I felt like I might as well have cold showers. To save on gas (note: it's not like I'm living in extreme poverty or anything, I just like finding ways to consume less), but also to see if the claimed health benefits are true. People like Wim Hof made a fortune selling books and courses on how to make your body adapt to cold temperatures and ice baths, making sometimes outrageous claims about its health benefits.

While I do know there are studies on the topic, I am also curious to see if you guys have any experiences taking cold showers and what effects it had for you.

Due to lack of time after a weekend with a prom/family visits/attending a cup final, I forgor ☠️ to make the thread last week.

Anyway, I'm making progress on my pull ups as they now start to go more smooth. They also make my biceps feel way more sore then a workout without pull ups.

I've also picked up box jumping because the pull ups made me want to practice more 'useful' exercises so to say. Lifting weights is fun but you very rarely get yourself in a real life situation where a perfect bicep curl is required. I do, however, find myself in situations where pull ups or jumping ability would be nice. So I try to find more ways to do stuff like this.

How is your progress going?

Seems like a much better way to keep up on heart and overall physical health, than step counters.

Another one

Interested to hear what's best helped comrades improve their workouts.

Waddup

Due to a busy schedule and lack of motivation I found myself doing two workouts at home this week. Because of this I felt like walking to work, which takes an hour total on a daily basis.

What did your week bring you?

Did one workout at the gym this week, but I made it a full body workout. Did two different exercises for each muscle group.

The rest of the week has been a holiday for me where I went back to my home country The Netherlands. I did some hiking in the hills (yes, the country isn't totally flat) so I guess that counts as a workout as well. For the rest I have been enjoying time with family during my tour of the country. I've also been busy with planning an upcoming tour throughout Belgium where I will be supported by one of our members of Parliament. During the tour we will be shining light on the energy crisis in the country, and what help and ideas we offer to support the working class people. Looking forward to it.

How was your week?

It's april already.

This week went good. Some good workouts for me. But there were lots of strange people at the gym.

There was this bigger guy who was training with a friend and he was constantly yelling stuff like: 'SHOW ME YOUR POWER YOUR FUCKING WH*RE!' in English. Afterwards he said: sorry guys just did a pre workout. Like, okay you twat lol.

There was also this Jesus looking guy in the dressing room who casually whipped out an enormous schlong, parading it through the room and showers. I almost had to duck for cover when he walked by.

Anyway, tomorrow will be the start of another week of holiday for me, the second in three weeks. I'm off to the motherland to visit friends and family and I will be working on building a veggie gardens at a friend's new house. I'll count it as working out as well.

How did you do this week?

What's up comrades, how has your week gone? Any gripes? Any boasting? Anything you wish to share?

Yes, I am aware I am a day early... but considered the times I was late I figured it was a fair trade off.

Also I wanted to show off my new, in-process, weight plates.

8x 10lbs

2x 15lbs, 30lbs, and 35lbs

Final touch ups will be done with epoxy and BBs to get the final weights more exact but they need to cure for a few weeks to a month before I go doing that.

It's a bit of a goofy video, but the results of this massage are great (at least for me). Lifting is important, stretching is important but massages can be important too. To lift pain, to keep blood circulation going, to feel relaxed and relieved, etc.

That's it that's the post.

Oh, I need to write more?

There's a lot of bs in the fitness industry, and often that bs is repeated by athletes themselves.

It irks me especially when new gym-goers turn towards the geared buff guys for their advice. You have to understand that the difference between you and these guys is that you're never gonna reach their level. These guys can go to the gym twice a day every day of the week and make gains like it's nothing. You'd be lucky to be in condition to go back the next day if you put yourself through an intense workout as a natty.

It's an assumption that because someone looks strong, they must know what they're doing. It doesn't apply to people on gear solely; at my gym people go to the big guys for advice, some of whom are not loading. But the "tiny" guy whom I sometimes work out with has some great science and biomechanics advice to give out, some of which I've put into practice myself.

But certainly if they get results they have a good workout plan. Ask them about that first before asking about how much you should eat or how you can maximise your gains if you take creatine. (Although in my experience people are quick to praise their training routine yet never actually want to share it lol)

Though sometimes you see people like V Shred who look muscular but have no idea what they're talking about, and it does kinda comfort me to know that if it worked for them and their terrible advice, then it can only work for me and my sound advice.

To clarify, if you can bench your bodyweight, squat 1.5x your bodyweight, and 2x your deadlift, you are in the top 5% of strongest humans.

How's it going comrades? How's the workouts going?

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit. Job searching has me pretty stressed but I'm gonna try and not let that keep us from having the weekly thread moving forward I finally managed to get motivated and lift some this week.

I considered posting this to Tankie Tunes but realized that not everyone that listens to music also lifts, but everyone who lifts definitely listens to music…so with that said, what is your favorite song/most “powerful” song that you exercise to? Obv it doesn’t have to be ML music but most of my songs that get me super pumped are political songs. For me it’s Chollima on The Wing, a super powerful sounding DPRK track that seems to make me able to lift 50 lbs more lol. I like this song when I need to do a solid 1 minute exercise of heavy weight with many reps. It has a good rhythm to it for keeping your reps in time. Besides those main ones, I also love this Maoist song mainly just bc it’s high-energy and cheery, good for doing cardio or a longer exercise to. Lastly I love listening to Motorhead and Van Halen. They don’t match the other songs but what can I say, Ace of Spades fuckin kicks ass

Bit late but I had a birthday weekend for my partner and I forgot lol

Anyway, went to the gym twice last week and the January madlads are still there it seems. It is so incredibly busy. People keep waiting at the machines or places I'm working at, staring me down as I intensely flex my glutes at them. Shame is not present anymore.

Also started running. It was my first time since forever but due to keeping up with strength training, I managed to do 8km in an hour right away. I was actually surprised by that and I want to keep doing it once a week for now.

The weekend was a party so no gym, alcohol at a bar, cake at home but it was fun 👍

Had a talk today with a guy who was sort of offended for some reason about me not eating animal products and lifting weight. He said I'd never get enough protein (never heard that one before!!!). Because lentils aren't a thing in a world of steaks.

Anyway he said that you need at least 200 grams of protein each day when you lift but that's of course nonsense. Not saying you shouldn't do it, but you don't need to either.

I'm averaging around 110-140 grams a day and I'm doing fine at +-80kg body weight.

So pea protein powder in the store costs up to 30 euro's here for 1kg of powder.

1 kg of dried peas costs 4 euro's. I thought about grinding them into a powder to have some protein to add to my diet. But I've never done this before so I don't know how well it works. Anyone here with experience?

I don't really like coffee, but it's a great pre-workout supplement for more than just the caffeine. A cup of coffee can also be very cheap, much cheaper than pre-workout powders.

What I do is drink my coffee iced. For that, you just need to make yourself a cup of coffee the way you like and fill a cup about halfway up.

Then, fill a quarter of the rest with milk of your choice -- not cream (not for iced coffees). This can be dairy milk, or almond, soy, whichever you prefer.

Add your sugar to taste and stir already.

After the sugar has dissolved, add ice cubes to your cup and stir while adding more. What you want is to keep stirring and adding cubes until they no longer dissolve. At this point your iced coffee is ready.

This process dilutes the coffee and the cold also changes the taste so that you don't get a cup as strong as when it comes out of the pot.

Super easy to make once you have a cup of coffee, doesn't have to be complicated.

This week I managed to get back at a 24kg bicep dumbbell curl after some setbacks since december. It would be nice if I could do it for 8 reps soon, but I'll take my time.

I'm also eating like a mad men again after a week of covid, but I still have not regained my smell and taste. My passion of eating is now a boring task. I hope it gets better soon

How did your week go?

It took me three days of nonstop writing. I thought it was gonna be an easy one, but nope. There's just too much to say.

Anyway, enjoy. If you need to diet (either weight gain or weight loss) or want to get into fitness, this is the guide you need. No chuds guarantee.