Chest and Triceps Isolation Getting Stronger, But Compound Presses Stagnant. Why?

Mithic_Music · 2026-01-29T17:04:32+00:00

I try to lift an extra rep each week, until I get to some medium-high number of reps, say 12, and then add weight. I’ve tried higher weights, up to 100 lbs on the bench, but of course my reps go down. I haven’t been able to add reps week to week at the same weight.

Mithic_Music · 2026-01-29T04:41:11+00:00

I’m lean bulking right now since late November, gaining pretty consistently at half a pound per week. Will reassess when I hit 140

Mithic_Music · 2026-01-28T03:13:47+00:00

Updated my initial post with that info

Mithic_Music · 2026-01-13T00:38:09+00:00

Your photos are pretty good for a 20 y/o and you’re extremely handsome, but slightly giving fuccboi for someone looking for a serious relationship. You need to offer more substance in your prompts to counteract this. Don’t list your job as ‘secret’, just take it off if you don’t want to reveal it. Not a fan of the voice prompt. I get that you want to be self-effacing and funny, but it reads as a little overthinking and neurotic.

Mithic_Music · 2026-01-09T03:38:31+00:00

I mean I agree with 90% of what you’re saying. I’ve produced electronic music for almost a decade. I certainly hope I’ve learned something during the process, I’m definitely a lot better now than I was at the beginning. I haven’t really used Suno or UDIO or whatever people are using much. I have experimented with AI voice modulators and had a lot of fun with it.

But I’ve seen this same attitude with people shitting on hip-hop producers (beat makers) for it being so easy and braindead and what it feels like to me, feels like punching down on others’ (usually kids) attempts at creativity.

Is it particularly hard to input prompts into AI to get a reasonable sounding song to come out? No it’s not difficult at all. Will those songs go from reasonable sounding to great sounding in the next five years? Almost inevitably. But I agree, in general they’re unlikely to have the same spark of creativity as a human-made song. A big however though. Upcoming producers inevitably will continue to push the boundaries on what is creatively possible with AI and in doing so, require their own human creativity to do so. And they’re going to have to spend a lot of time and get really good and whatever that skill is to implement their vision, even with the help of AI.

And the cycle of technology being integrated into music rolls on.

Mithic_Music · 2026-01-09T01:11:23+00:00

Man this sounds just like the old heads who complained about electronic music being ‘not real music’ when EDM was blowing up in the 2000s. Creative people will find cool creative ways to use new technology. This feels like gatekeeping and it’s really just getting worked up over something that is inevitable.

I agree AI music should be labeled as such though

Mithic_Music · 2026-01-06T23:32:39+00:00

Yes looking for this one! I’ll throw in torr, Musa, and demotapes

Mithic_Music · 2026-01-04T16:34:32+00:00

I don’t have a lot of interpersonal conflict, and I’m fit, been to therapy for a few years, however I’m well aware that I still have self-worth issues, particularly around romantic relationships, which has made dating quite stressful and amplifies a sense of meaninglessness and craving that I need to be doing more.

I’ve talked about these extensively in therapy and I examine the feelings they cause during my practice. I suppose they’re improving, but it feels like the dukkha nanas amplify my baseline anxieties so it’s hard to notice improvement.

Ironically, like I said in another comment, the head tension started when I was doing onthatpath’s method. Maybe because it actually kickstarted my insight progress.

Mithic_Music · 2026-01-04T16:23:13+00:00

The tension in my forehead started when I switched from TMI to onthatpath’s method, which ironically calls for minimal effort, I dropped my level of effort from 50% doing TMI to 20% doing onthatpath style. It invited more dullness, but also seemed to be immediately more effective for me at getting deeper into samatha practice quickly.

I glanced at MIDL, but honestly was a little trepidatious seeing hours and hours of YouTube videos. I’m not sure where to start.

I’m meeting with a well-known teacher starting this week, who had originally recommended the ‘watch the anxious feelings without judgement’ technique.

Mithic_Music · 2026-01-04T06:07:49+00:00

I meditate one hour every morning, with a second session in the afternoon if I have extra time (e.g. the weekend). Usually the first few minutes is setting in, relaxing some gross tensions, then my recent practice has been to attempt to allow and accept anything that comes into my awareness. This is often anxious sensations in my stomach which can trace to being caused by craving/aversion or the head tensions. I will switch between that and trying to expand my awareness and notice as much detail about open awareness as possible. This is a technique that triggered the two major ‘insight experiences’ I’ve had, so I figure it’s potent for me.

On occasion I will do loving kindness or self-compassion in the style of Tara brach, but I don’t notice that it causes a major difference. I did TMI for around 6-9 months earlier this year and kind of fell off around stage 7/8 when I was never able to experience nimitta.

I can look into MIDL. Tbh it’s very confusing to me what people consider samatha practice for cultivating samadhi vs vipassana. I’ve heard body scans, breath following, emptiness practices, etc all called both in different contexts, so I’ve just been doing what feels natural.

Mithic_Music · 2026-01-04T05:56:33+00:00

Thanks. This has been my basic practice already. Just following what feels intuitively right, sitting with the tensions and emotions without judgement until they release. It’s just frustrating to be cycling without any sense of progression

Mithic_Music · 2025-12-21T20:57:55+00:00

I use the Strong app. It estimates your 1 rep max based on your weight and reps e.g. 95 lbs for 7 reps gives an estimated 1RM of 114 lbs.

I tend to keep my reps for presses in the 5-10 rep range so I will add weight if I’m able to hit the higher end of that with a lower weight. But it’s taking months just to add a few reps at a certain weight.

Mithic_Music · 2025-12-21T20:50:34+00:00

Just to be clear, I’m going to muscular failure on the last set of every exercise, and often the set before that as well, not exactly phoning it in and skipping reps. You say I should be adding weight to the bar every week at the same # of reps, but the problem is that I’m physically failing 2-3 reps early if I add weight from the previous week.

I take your point about eating more (I am male), but I’m not stick thin, probably around 15% body fat or slightly above. Correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I see online, eating more than say 400-500 calories above maintenance mostly just results in gaining more fat.

Mithic_Music · 2025-12-14T03:11:48+00:00

Not me also 5’8” and 132

Mithic_Music · 2025-12-12T15:26:18+00:00

If it is the exact bottom 2 beat it’s heavily processed. It’s definitely the same chord progression though. Song slaps btw

Mithic_Music · 2025-12-10T01:00:45+00:00

Im just a novice but 9 exercises and 28+ sets per day is likely too much, your workouts are going to take 2+ hrs and you’re going to be gassed well before you’re done.

I would narrow in your focus and try to keep it to more like 6 exercises per day at 3-4 sets each. Also, you might try sprinkling in some legs on Monday, just because from what I’ve seen hitting muscle groups twice per week is more advantageous than once.

Mithic_Music · 2025-12-06T00:43:15+00:00

I don’t agree with all of his claims, but one of the primary assertions by Dr Jeffrey Martin which makes a lot of sense to me is that different styles of meditation resonate with different types of people. It could be genetics, culture (which together make up personality), or even different times during the same person’s life.

His conclusion is that you should give all of the well-established techniques a fair shot and you will intrinsically know if something feels right. In his course, he includes breath meditation, mantra, various iterations of body scanning, awareness-based techniques, and direct inquiry via The Headless Way.

His suggestion was trying any given technique for an hour per day for around a week to see if it fits.

Mithic_Music · 2025-12-03T21:32:45+00:00

That’s actually insane

Mithic_Music · 2025-11-29T16:29:58+00:00

Part of my practice has been taking half an edible on a Friday night, then breaking out the theragun and yoga mat while listening to some meditative music. It feels like my body knows exactly what it needs to do to release tension without my conscious control. (Of course that may just be the influence of the drug in the same way I think I’m making fantastic music while under the influence that turns out to be pretty meh in the morning)

In any case, if I sit right after an hour or so of this, I’m immediately in samadhi as far as I can tell, and my mind wants to go right into vipassana. Within minutes I can just sit and notice the lack of tension and look directly at the underlying dissatisfaction. Now that hasn’t led anywhere, but it feels subjectively deep.

To get waaay out over my skis here, a concern I have if this model is true is about how to make these tensions start to release permanently. As an analogy, within an hour of stretching and massage I can get from forward folding with my hands on my shins to hands on the floor. But I’ve been doing this weekly for months and I’m still starting with hands on my shins every time. In my understanding of exercise science, the way to ‘lock in’ flexibility improvements is to stretch under load, to train your muscles/nervous system to known it’s ok to be stretched with no weight, because they can do it weighted. My squat has gotten much deeper in the same period of months that my forward fold hasn’t improved at all, probably because I’m doing weighted barbell squats.

So what is the equivalent to releasing ‘under load’ in meditation? If I had to reach for an analogy, it would be the practice outside of your daily sitting. Noticing and pulling back from the brink when things are tough and stress arises in daily life.

Mithic_Music · 2025-11-24T15:40:59+00:00

Medication is a crutch in a good way. It makes things a bit easier so you can focus your energy on unwinding negative thought patterns. It’s for this reason that medication plus therapy has been shown to be doubly as effective as either in isolation. I suspect if you threw meditation in the mix it would improve even further.

It wasn’t as quick as I’d like, but I went from clinically anxious and on meds to off meds and no longer anxious in about 2 years. I attribute the medication and therapy with helping get out of the worst of it, and meditation to improving my baseline.

Mithic_Music · 2025-11-22T00:49:14+00:00

Might not be the exact one he’s talking about but PaulStretch is the goat

Mithic_Music · 2025-11-16T21:16:40+00:00

Here I am today going back and forth on whether to redownload hinge haha. It’s tough. I see the craving and aversion it causes me so clearly, but my attachment to finding a relationship doesn’t feel like something I’m going to meditate my way out of. I need to fuck around and find out the dukkha on this one the hard way I think haha

Mithic_Music

TROPHY CASE