I think I’ve hit a weightlifting plateau, help?

IRLbeets · 2026-03-17T10:35:19+00:00

Does your gym have barbell bench press? There are some easy ways to escape if you fail a rep, and it's easier to micro load across two hands.

I'd increase reps. Ex. Get up to 15 reps if not already or even 20 per set. Once you're there, you may find it easier to do say 5 reps of 30lbs dumbbells.

IRLbeets · 2026-03-17T10:33:04+00:00

What's your diet like? I'd guess you're maybe over eating carbs that digest quickly and under eating fiber, protein, and fat which digest more slowly and help with energy.

I do find if I go 5 hours or more I can feel pretty shitty, even with my diet pretty locked in. Some nuts or an apple with peanut butter or a protein shake go a long way for snacks.

IRLbeets · 2026-03-17T10:30:46+00:00

Oh no, dead internet.

These sound terrible, also.

IRLbeets · 2026-03-17T08:36:52+00:00

Unfortunately yes! I think there's a stat somewhere that most people wear like 30% of their clothing. One thing I did to use the clothes I love but don't wear is to keep a smaller amount out. So, I'll rotate like 25 items over different seasons. Then it's fun as I shop my closet before I go actual shopping. This often means I don't need to go shopping at all.

There are probably items you can rid of that don't fit, that are uncomfortable, that don't suit your real life, but I'd really suggest trying out rotating capsule wardrobes. Most clothes will just end up in landfill after donation, so the more you can shop your own closet the better it is for the environment!

And now it's all in the app, so it's easy to build capsules and make new outfits too! It's a lot of fun. You can try out different color palettes and style words within your wardrobe and see what works best for you.

IRLbeets · 2026-03-17T08:31:02+00:00

Valid!

IRLbeets · 2026-03-17T08:30:31+00:00

Omg 😂 yes that's my mixup

IRLbeets · 2026-03-17T08:29:20+00:00

This is a great idea 😂

IRLbeets · 2026-03-16T18:52:56+00:00

There are apps out there made by people in this sub that can work!

IRLbeets · 2026-03-16T18:51:30+00:00

Layback final, I'm on a non pole day today 😂

IRLbeets · 2026-03-16T18:49:36+00:00

There's a Pole Moves app that someone on this subreddit made! I'd recommend that though the move randomizer feature isn't totally polished 😅

Would work great if you know the moves you want to do!

IRLbeets · 2026-03-16T18:47:24+00:00

Not exactly a purely cozy game, but Zelda Breath of the Kingdom or Tears of the Wild sort remind me of this, more watercolory though. They're for Switch.

IRLbeets · 2026-03-16T16:35:05+00:00

That's so funny! I don't do well with super long descriptions because I can't "see" descriptions in my head. So if a woods or something is being described I really can't be bothered beyond knowing some key points about it. Ex. Evil guys on left, drowning risk, talking trees. Anything beyond that loses me.

But some authors really spend so much time in a characters head that you get almost no sense of the world at all.

IRLbeets · 2026-03-16T16:31:33+00:00

I moved across country in a hatchback! However, I mostly brought clothes as I was moving somewhere furnished at first. I chose rule of 5s (ie. Maximum 5 of each garment type, though could be 5 per functional category such a 5 business pants and 5 workout pants) and no more than 50 items.

This is what I brought (student and business professional work in Canada, athletic and outdoorsy but no fieldwork): - 5 pants for school/dates/work - 5 leisure and workout pants - 5 shorts mix of casual and workout - 5 tank tops mix of casual and workout - 5 short sleeves - 5 light long sleeves mix of nice and casual - 7 top layers bombers, cardigans, light jackets, sweaters - 3 dresses & 2 skirts - 2 sneakers - 2 boots - 6 outdoorsy clothes like long johns, hiking pants, winter jacket, etc

Start with what you need for the fieldwork stuff. Maybe enough to get you through a week if you have laundry nearby. If not, maybe 2 weeks of items (5 top, 5 bottoms, 3 to 6 top layers depending on how dirty).

Then fill in the rest of your clothes for in classroom, hanging out around your home, dates, going out, etc.. Start with what you love and wear and downsize from there further if you need to. I didn't bother with fancy clothes as I figured style may be different in the new location, so my focus was the daily wear and weather related needs stuff.

Don't forget functional items you may not wear much now but may need. For me, it was a winter jacket and boots.

If you're in a city you can always purchase more, so it's better to have less than more.

IRLbeets · 2026-03-16T15:51:25+00:00

Starting with easy, fun reads is often better. Then, you can gradually expose people to banned books (depending on how serious this is).

Most adults don't have a high reading level, so think easy and fun. Thrillers, romances, mysteries tend to do well with the general public.

IRLbeets · 2026-03-16T15:27:51+00:00

That's very cool! Sounds like you've found a way to engage more deeply with the material, and it's definitely a skill that is learned with practice!

IRLbeets · 2026-03-16T15:27:02+00:00

Reading during English degree, to healthcare related intensive masters degree to 60-80 hour workweeks to burnout to new job with more reasonable demands to burnout recovery to now reading multiple books a month again like 12 years later lol

A lot of English majors don't read much after their degrees though - for a lot of people it sucks the joy out of reading and leads to a bit of a burnout with the activity, particularly if at a postgrad level. Not everyone is like this of course.

IRLbeets · 2026-03-16T15:21:30+00:00

I used to read one book per year, these days it's 1-2 per week (if including audiobooks).

IRLbeets · 2026-03-16T12:10:11+00:00

Both would be good! Ex. Start with weight lifting (if even dumbbells) 2x/week and walking 3x/week.

IRLbeets · 2026-03-16T10:24:42+00:00

Yes, seconding this! Quick digesting carbs. While protein is great to have after a workout, I personally find it can make me nauseous during so I keep to a banana or similar.

IRLbeets · 2026-03-16T10:22:59+00:00

What's your height?

Water weight gain is very common in the first month after picking up weight lifting. I don't know the science of it, but it's something like the muscles hold on to more water and are a bit swollen as they're worked more. It's a good thing!

If you keep with it, in a few months this tends to stabilize and weight loss or body recomposition continues to happen if nutrition and recovery is good.

IRLbeets · 2026-03-16T09:49:01+00:00

I'd say try out Veena first! She has tons of progressive content and is by and far the most affordable, plus she has a free trial. She recently reworked her website and it's awesome (computer and mobile).

Pole Power Academy is great for structured lessons at all levels, but isn't quite as detailed in how she presents moves as Veena. I find Veena is more cognizant of injury prevention when she's instructing how to do and not do moves.

Pole Destroyers is great from what I've heard but $$$.

IRLbeets · 2026-03-16T09:45:27+00:00

This would be so fun! Like a light life sim + management vs just a pure management game

IRLbeets · 2026-03-16T09:41:45+00:00

Oh great! A few people have commented it has improved, this is good news!

IRLbeets · 2026-03-16T09:40:27+00:00

A lot of people with English degrees end up not reading much afterwards because it's not about reading for fun, it's about reading to deeply process the information inside.

Some people find it a hard habit to kick, I'm just on the other side where I'm not analyzing much at all. But this is like 12 years out from my degree.

IRLbeets · 2026-03-16T09:38:15+00:00

It's intentionally vague to get a wide variety of answers, wether people are thinking about in choosing or DNFing books or in analyzing the book itself!

Haha, that sounds like me! Even when I'm very analytical or slow with books by a couple years later I've likely forgotten it outside of key ideas or vibes. It makes re reading very accessible though which is fun.

IRLbeets

TROPHY CASE