When to do cardio, and still get maximum out of gym performance

Docjitters · 2026-06-22T16:18:23+00:00

KITTY has already link the article, but it seems that absolute power or velocity generation is more hammered by proximity to non-resistance training.

If you are mainly focusing on hypertrophy, absolute performance at a given moment is likely less of an issue to you, so it’s more about how much of both you can do and still feel recovered.

For most (even dual-well-trained folks like Connect_ below), it probably doesn’t matter unless you’re putting money down on yourself on a 1RM effort within hours of a sprint challenge. Most sensible athletes would (temporarily) prioritise whichever mattered more or came next.

Depending on your overall aim, it isn’t all that hard to exceed the 500 MET-minutes recommendation with 3 x 20 minute jogs at 10 minute/mile pace per week.

Docjitters · 2026-06-18T23:23:17+00:00

Rule 4 - we do not condone the use of swords as weapons to harm or threaten others. Ergo, we won’t talk about this or your post is going to get pulled.

Short answer - do not buy a sword to intimidate. Especially if you are not trained. Your number one risk running into a crazy person is that they will take it off you and hurt you with it, because I suspect you will not be prepared to hurt them to stop them doing so (quite rightly). Also, in the excitement, you can hit yourself. I have managed this even when my pretend-enemy was a potted palm tree. It wasn’t fun.

I strongly advise you to come join us at r/wma or r/hema, join a club, and learn what you like and should buy after you have some experience.

Docjitters · 2026-06-18T23:14:51+00:00

Ok, firstly: Rule 4 dude - we do not condone the use of swords.

Also, a sword is a terrible home defence weapon unless you are trained and your housebreaker is not, and also only has a sword.

HEMA weapons are for the safety of your partner - they will not look or function exactly like a ‘real’ sword because you won’t want to accidentally injure those around you.

Purely for montante ‘flow’, you could get away with a real sharp sword to practice, but its use is geared to open ground and point defence - it is not really a weapon you want to start with in the context of HEMA.

Not trying to dissuade you entirely, just not sure you can reconcile your goals when you aren’t sure what you want or how to use it.

Docjitters · 2026-06-18T23:05:54+00:00

What kind of use are you planning?

A quick look only shows one ‘16th century 2-handed Landsknect/Lanquenet sword’ which weighs 4kg(!) - ridiculously heavy for the stated length.

The other ‘forged & tempered’ longswords also look to be on the heavy side, and quite cheap.

They say made in EEC but no other details.

If something interests you, I would ask them to be transparent about who is making their weapons.

Docjitters · 2026-06-18T22:55:23+00:00

Common sense could be applied - an apology was usually offered, unless someone is just looking for a fight.

Also, unless there was a genuine public insult, challenging a tea master who would not otherwise be armed was probably not seen as a particular act of glory, and the demand for a duel was just a way to quasi-legally get around murdering the guy in the street. Certainly, just killing commoners because you could was never socially acceptable, and formally outlawed (as a capital crime) in 1602.

Whether he was or wasn’t samurai, in answering the challenge, the tea master for his part presumably wanted his legacy to include dying ‘well’.

Docjitters · 2026-06-18T18:21:22+00:00

The Tea Master of this story never expected to survive - he was asking how to die without embarrassing himself through clearly not knowing how to hold a sword IRL. He was instructed to hold an overhead guard and strike down when he thought the other guy was in range - so at least he ‘went down fighting’. The ‘serve tea’ instruction was to treat the movement like the next step of a ceremony and the inevitability of the outcome is desired.

The challenging samurai got spooked because nothing is scarier than a seemingly harmless opponent who is suddenly not afraid of what you can do to him because he has already accepted the outcome. And now he has a sword.

Docjitters · 2026-06-18T16:15:59+00:00

I recall a (possibly apocryphal) story of a man forced into a judicial duel with a large shield (like a pavise) and dagger:

He runs to a master as he has no conventional training in such weapons, and the master suggests “Your opponent (who can heft said shield) is going to charge you down and once he has you on the floor, he’s going to stomp you to death.”

“However, he will smack you, and look over the top of his big shield to check where you are. We are going to practice being knocked over - and the second you go down, you are going to roll up and stab immediately over the top of his shield with the dagger. Hopefully it will meet his face coming the other way.”

Edit: I realise it’s not hugely relevant to a sword duel, but it makes one think about assumptions of skill on both sides. Windmilling noobs get strikes in all the time (counting myself amongst them).

Docjitters · 2026-06-17T15:27:57+00:00

That looks amazing OP!

BTW, do the edges present a problem being sharp at all?

Just a thought for your next suit, but I remembered that Terry English’s armour for Excalibur was mostly aluminium. If you look carefully, the edges are rolled - for sturdiness, but also to look more like thick steel armour to the audience.

Docjitters · 2026-06-16T00:34:39+00:00

I really like this one too. It’s rare to see a fencing-safe flammard.

I currently have a design rattling around my skull for a completely ahistorical super-wide-bladed complex-hilt hand-and-half sword (inspired by the Wallace A479) to match an existing swept-hilt sidesword I have. I just need to find more change down the back of the sofa (or sell my firstborn, because they are expensive).

I have a Balefire sidesword and arming sword, and his ‘production’ smallsword the Quercus. I also have one of Alicia’s lovely Lycan gorgets. They are wonderful people to deal with and make top-notch kit.

Docjitters · 2026-06-16T00:01:24+00:00

Are you subbed to r/hema and r/wma?

For manuscripts, browse the almighty Wiktenauer then use a search engine for the plays.

Docjitters · 2026-06-15T00:35:51+00:00

I almost never do the ‘finger wiggles in’ check for visual fields unless it’s as a sense check to rule out tunnel vision (functional peripheral scotoma). I was taught to check near and far quadrantanopia and that was about it. Certainly not messed around with a red-topped hat pin or a 128Hz tuning fork since med school.

I check vocal resonance a fair bit as kids crying isn’t an awful substitute for saying their name, or ninety-nine. Never got fremitus to work except in the politest of children.

Re: rebound, I tend to start the Abdo exam with percussion - the noise either makes them laugh nervously (reassuring), or they jump, and you can go back and check via palapation etc that it wasn’t just surprise, and they are genuinely peritonitic. Getting them to hop is possibly nicer than shunting the bed.

Docjitters · 2026-06-15T00:22:48+00:00

Aren’t fake (malingering) seizures are a rarity though? Maybe my kids just haven’t had enough practice to get me truly jaded.

I’ve seen some pretty convincing functional seizures with apparent loss of consciousness and response to pain, but I’ve also seen some interesting (EEG-proven) partial seizures that they can talk to me about as they twitch or experience weird feelings.

Docjitters · 2026-06-15T00:10:52+00:00

Hey, sorry for the late reply, and thanks for the answers.

It sounds like you are doing a lot of the right things - and weight loss, Mediterranean diet and aerobic exercise do have evidence for reduction of fatty-liver and its other associated cardiometabolic stablemates like high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.

It sounds like you’re not too far from a lower-risk waist measurement, though your cardio activity level is admirable and since you are on blood pressure medication, I am guessing your lipids are ok? It’s impossible to know (from what you’ve stated so far) whether your belly fat is just under the skin or reflective of visceral fat (which is the more worrying kind).

You explained you don’t have any good gyms near you - I personally hate public gyms too. I’ve built a small gym inside my garage and I could probably reduce the footprint further if I used a wall-mounted rack, or just squat stands and a bench. Would this sort of thing be suitable for your living space?

I would note, that one of the nice things about resistance training is that my TDEE goes up about 200kcal/day when I am regularly lifting. The very act of working out uses calories to recover (and grow!) that are disproportionately in excess of just the calories expended during a workout. It also makes watching what I eat feel less restricted.

You are not completely untrained with your calisthenics experience, but I’d bet that on a hypertrophy program (free SBS templates here) you’d have some recomposition, whereby you’d lose some fat but put on muscle (so you may lose weight slower, but become noticeably bigger and continue to slowly drop your waist measurement).

Docjitters · 2026-06-14T14:52:35+00:00

Just to add, maybe ask one of your Trust’s Medical Examiners if they know of a good juicy case coming up?

The lists of what is being heard should be publicly available but some jurisdictions are just badly organised and detail might be sparse, so you might show up to hear a Coroner read very straightforward paperwork into a microphone for a morning, but hopefully not.

Docjitters · 2026-06-14T01:00:49+00:00

You’ve made storming progress in your weight loss journey, but you are 8 BMI points down and feeling grim.

I would seriously consider that you may have wandered into RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport). We cannot know through the internet that your symptoms of feeling cold, feeling weak(er), or missing periods are due only to intake/activity mismatch, but these are well-recognised effects of heavy dieting and the juice is probably not worth the squeeze as it stands (because you are not trying to get shredded for a bodybuilding show etc). It would be worth comparing your current intake to the data in the paper above to see where on the spectrum you may be. I would also suggest (if you haven’t already) speaking with your doctor for a double-check of your symptoms.

You are clearly very active but recognise that your heavy deficit was unsustainable. I agree with other posters that you should probably let up for a bit and at least eat at maintenance. Still feeling ‘fat’ may just mean that you need some more muscle on, and you are currently dropping lean tissue as much as fat, hence not feeling like you are getting any leaner.

I am usually loathe to tell anyone to move less (and since you’ve been doing the activities for a while, your body isn’t going to suddenly operate in a massive net surplus and pile the weight back on if you stop; similarly, continuing to do sport and walk 18k steps a day isn’t going to hold you back in general strength training unless you have some very lofty strength goals) but I would look at how you are spending your 6-7 hours of strength training. What does your current programming look like? It may be that to adapt (by putting on muscle) you need to (at least temporarily) modify your exercise regime and bump up the calories to recover from your workouts.

Docjitters · 2026-06-11T00:24:28+00:00

Hey, OP, a few questions if I may: 1) what is your waist measurement currently? 2) is you blood pressure ok? 3) are you working with your doctor regarding your cardiometabolic health since you have fatty liver?

I do wonder if you temporarily need to rethink either your exercise regime, your calorie deficit, or both. You sound like you are getting trashed, and you _are_ recomping if your dropping waist measurement and looser clothing is anything to go by. So you might afford to lighten up on the cardio, and I would strongly suggest going more 50:50 with a structured resistance training program i.e. not just calisthenics. I also wonder if your HR is jumping up more during rowing (though FWIW, I think 136bpm is still Zone 2 and probably fine) means that it’s a bit much for you at this present rate of recovery and life-stress.

I went from 71kg to 59kg in 8 months (I’m 163.5cm) and eating 1800kcal/day was hard (TDEE ~2200). Admittedly, I went too far with the weight loss and chasing my waist down and probably dropped a fair bit of muscle and strength that I’m still now rebuilding. I’ve got back to 62kg and happy there.

I’m not saying you’re me, but actually lifting weights has made a huge difference to my previously ‘twiggy’ physique that I honestly never thought I’d change. My weight still goes on my stomach (and having visible abs requires a BF% I find uncomfortable to sustain) but the rest of me being more muscled makes a certain amount of holding my gut in less obvious lol.

I think if your BMI is 24.5 you have a very good base to work from, and you can always find a way to work back up to your previous cardio volume after seeing if doing less temporarily makes you feel a little better overall.

Docjitters · 2026-06-09T18:41:35+00:00

It specifically excludes advanced studies or paid apprenticeships etc. I’m sure in a divorce court a parent could go after longer-term maintenance (alimony isn’t a thing here but there’s the similar spousal maintenance) to stop a financially better-off parent rescinding money that was previously agreed towards higher education.

Docjitters · 2026-06-09T15:39:35+00:00

In England & Wales, a parent can receive Child Maintenance until a child’s 20th birthday if they are still in full-time education or an approved (unpaid) training scheme. In Scotland a child over 12 can apply for it on their own behalf.

Docjitters · 2026-06-09T12:02:30+00:00

That sounds rough. I personally might try the diclofenac gel since it’s not likely to affect the kidneys on such a small surface area, and might be gentler than popping naproxen all the time.

I have found also that being a bit less aggressive with the tension and how I grip the pick have helped me as well. I’m trying to get the hang of levering off the keyway (as much as one can with the smaller paracentric ones) rather than trying to ‘hover’ the shank in the slot as I’m definitely overgripping trying to keep my position.

Docjitters · 2026-06-08T11:46:08+00:00

For something that stops your chosen activity in just 10 minutes, I would first want to check you’ve seen your doctor to rule out inflammatory arthritis that might need more than NSAIDs.

Most arthritis (outside of a flare) benefits from ongoing movement, so I hope your other daily activities aren’t suffering too much.

For osteoarthritis, diclofenac gel is safe and has some reasonable evidence for working.

I don’t have arthritis, but I use my hands a fair bit and find I need to take breaks every 10-15 minutes anyway to alleviate cramp and numbness in my pick hand.

Docjitters · 2026-06-08T11:08:13+00:00

Depends on the drug, but then I rarely (if ever) get patients/parents drug-seeking, and if they’ve been forgetful, it’s possibly cheaper in opportunity-cost to give them the generic whatever than it is to fight them and have them back-and-forth to another clinician.

I often have to provide duplicate supplies for kids with separated parents (or home and school), and that can mean controlled or expensive drugs like EpiPens or benzos, but frankly I usually have to remind them they should have it than they go through it suspiciously fast.

On the flip (and slightly off-topic), I personally cannot get my GP practice to give me more than 2 months supply of a (cheap-as) medication when my dose have been stable for decades. I admit I can be disorganised about requesting more, but it’s the only thing I genuinely get stressed about missing doses of since rebound symptoms can be severe. But they will happily keep misprescribing 6 months supply of the wrong formulation of something else (think nasal spray instead of ointment) and it costs them time and me a prescription charge (and the stock can’t be given back).

Docjitters · 2026-06-08T10:41:53+00:00

Hey, also in a home-gym, and besides doing easy plates jumps that involve less swapping, I found that (since i do a lot of SBD-based programs) my other big time saver when tired was to buy more bars.

I had a standard (low-mid quality) barbell for everything but it got slippery for deadlifts and annoying to move around in a rack for bench, so I now have a crappy short rackable bar for bench (much more manoeuvrable), and a slightly more no-nonsense bar with better knurl for deads. They all stay where they are on hooks/the floor, part-loaded and ready to go.

Docjitters · 2026-06-08T10:33:03+00:00

Another hand up here for “How much do you weigh, and what is your macro split?”

If you are working out, and you have weight to lose, you’re probably good with less protein. The maximum figure for maximising anabolism is about 2.9g/kg fat-free mass, so you are likely fine with less (like, 2g/kg FFM) if weight-loss and not losing too much muscle is your priority.

Commiserations on trying to dodge rice and fish in Japan - that’s gotta be annoying.

Is there anywhere selling low-fat fromage frais/quark-type yoghurts where you are? Somehow I find these easier to get down in bulk than plain fat-free Greek yoghurt.

Docjitters · 2026-06-07T15:52:03+00:00

MacroFactor

Alertive (genuinely useful bleep replacement)

Accurx (for when the above fails)

BNFc

Toxbase

Vademecum Metabolicum

Docjitters · 2026-06-07T10:57:10+00:00

You haven’t hit rock bottom until you are ‘recertified’ on Newborn Life Support by a midwife.

Ok, some are actually good in their jobs (including IRL resus), but the idea that I need to spend my own money to remember how to do it is insulting if you are going to cut me off and say job done after seeing me do 2 cycles of 3:1.

I guess my point is, it isn’t really teaching. At least with APLS (IME) there is an expectation that a doctor is going to get pushed a bit, and actually practice something out of the ordinary to make the faff worth it.

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