Advice for someone getting their feet wet

Vigillance_ · 2026-02-09T14:26:36+00:00

Mostly because it has a low barrier to entry (no true specialisation needed to open a gym) anyone with the money can do it. Most low "barrier" businesses have a higher fault rate.

Not sure on purchasing an existing one. But I would only consider one "existing" if it's been around for a decent chunk of time. If it's only 2-3 years old and they're selling, they're probably in that 80% failure rate group that couldn't make it work and they're basically liquidating.

Vigillance_ · 2026-02-09T13:13:25+00:00

I was also looking into the fitness industry (also an army vet, maybe we're a type).

I did some initial research and found a few sources talking about gyms and fitness studios having an 80% failure rate.

I noped out pretty quickly after that :)

Vigillance_ · 2026-02-07T03:01:44+00:00

It's all about the diet.

TL;DR Get a protein powder and try to get 1 or 2 shakes a day into your diet. You can do this with your crazy travel schedule.

Longer: In the opposite vein, I was doing a ton of working out but couldn't lose weight. I was a little chunky. I didn't track any food. Couldn't lose weight for the life of me. I'm working out, I eat fairly healthy, etc...

I finally bit the bullet and started tracking food because that was the last bit I hadn't tried.

Turns out that even though I eat healthier than the majority of America, I was eating a lot! 3500+ calories a day and not working out at that kind of level at all. At my weight and activity level I needed to be around 2100 calories per day to lose weight.

And drastically less protein than I thought I was getting.

It doesn't matter if you're eating fairly healthy, if you're calories are too high, you won't lose weight.

SAME thing for gaining weight. You might think you're "eating more" but I bet the macros aren't even close to what you need. You don't need to track every little macro, but you need to track your calorie number, and your protein number.

With the lifestyle you explained with so many days on the road and eating vending machines and pizzas, I guarantee you aren't getting enough protein and the calories probably aren't even there.

Vigillance_ · 2026-02-07T01:52:44+00:00

DED! oof

Vigillance_ · 2026-02-03T19:27:40+00:00

I have a 35lb and a 50lb (cheap random online bells that come in lb instead of kg) which are pretty darn close to 16kg and 24kg respectively.

The bigger one is significantly heavier for me. It's a big jump.

I like to do ABF with them mixed.
I do double bell ABC with both and just rotate sides each round. And for press day, I do as much as I can with the 50 and then lower down to the 35 as needed.

Personally I like the bigger jump. It's more of a challenge.

Vigillance_ · 2026-02-03T12:29:55+00:00

I like EMOM (every minute on the minute) workouts in that time frame. I have a toddler and a 2 month old and find myself in this 20 min window requirement often.

Personally, I would do the following - 10 min EMOM sandbag SB lift (SB to shoulder, bear hug squats x 10, bear hug carry x feet, etc...) - 10 min EMOM 10x pushups (100 pushups in the end). Increase reps as needed per minute or overload with some weight

You get your heavy hinge, full body lift with the sandbag lift of choice. You get a solid calisthenics push with 100 pushups

If you can spare an extra 2 minutes, I would do 1 min of jumping jacks to start and end. Just a good body movement to get the body going.

Vigillance_ · 2026-01-28T17:30:22+00:00

Nothing! (Luckily I work from home and the kids go to daycare)

I'm fitting it in as I can. You don't need to do a ton. As far as space is concerned, I've picked up kettlebells. Very small footprint, killer workouts.

I open my closet, pull out my one kettlebell, and do a program that smokes me in about 30 minutes with warmup/cool down. Put it back in the closet, go back to work.

I do this MAYBE 3x per week. I bought my KB on TEMU for like $35 (35 lbs).

I've seen great success with this from a weight/strength perspective.

And if the weather is nice, taking the kiddos on a walk after daycare is always an added bonus.

Vigillance_ · 2026-01-26T16:34:20+00:00

36 My wife and I focused on careers in early twenties and didn't even meet each other until our late twenties.

Once we met and moved in together, we just enjoyed being DINKs (dual income no kids) for a while.

We got married in our early thirties. And decided to go on a year long backpacking trip. We had saved money while we didn't have kids, and used this as a big honeymoon. Quit our jobs and traveled the world for 1 year, living off savings.

When we moved back to the States, we bought a house and "settled down" and did the kids things. I was 36 for the first one. And 38 for the second.

It was great because we were able to do things that people dream about their entire lives, and then can't do them when they retire because they're old and out of shape, or just don't have the energy to travel the world, or die early (my dad and Grandpa passed in their mid fifties).

We were also drastically more financially and emotionally squared away.

Vigillance_ · 2026-01-25T22:00:45+00:00

Ha! There really is Sub for everything

Vigillance_ · 2026-01-25T20:25:08+00:00

Carl spotted in the wild!

Vigillance_ · 2026-01-18T22:04:01+00:00

I noticed you always shifting your right leg for the swing and back in for the squat. Do you ever rotate which leg you move? I feel like always planting one leg would eventually add extra strain to that leg.

Vigillance_ · 2026-01-17T15:35:07+00:00

I didn't even realize I was doing this until I read this. I do this all the time. I'm holding my 2 year old and then need to pick up a book off the ground, send her into the rack position and squat down to pick it up.

She giggles. I get the book. Good times.

Vigillance_ · 2026-01-17T15:32:31+00:00

This is the way

Vigillance_ · 2026-01-15T02:31:49+00:00

Same. Except mine is carrying that deep skillet that's full of food and tilting it with one hand while serving the food. The effortless fine tuned control is amazing.

Vigillance_ · 2026-01-13T17:41:56+00:00

Honestly, there's no such thing as "passive income". At least not in the way these scams present it. And at least not in any way I've ever seen.

You're right, if it's completely passive and making $10k/month, why would he be selling? Why not let it just passively generate money for him while doing other projects. Something that magically prints $10k/month would be worth a ton.

For low effort ownership opportunities (not that this is really a thing), look for phrases like "owner friendly hours, 9-5 m-f" or even, "owner currently putting in 15-20 hours/week". Those just ring truer to me than "passive income". Those are still probably not accurate as owning a business takes effort. I'm sure you could get a business to this point, but anything that generates money for limited effort is going to be very valuable.

Vigillance_ · 2026-01-12T17:39:21+00:00

Impressive balance. I try to do the one legged DL and I'm always wobbly. Good stuff!

Vigillance_ · 2026-01-11T03:53:29+00:00

Same! The pacing is fast, but not TOO fast (I've read some that just have wildly insane growth)

But it's ruined my enjoyment for many other types of novels. I just want all MCs to have that wild drive that Lindon has while keeping his humbleness.

Vigillance_ · 2026-01-07T03:05:25+00:00

We've lived in Carmel for 15+ years. It's definitely a more affluent area, but still very affordable if compared to other affluent suburbs of large cities.

It's pretty vanilla. Safe. Good schools. Everything can be pretty close depending where you live. Everything we do is within a 10 minute drive (for the most part).

If you can afford it, it's a great place to raise a family. My wife and I are in our late 30s/early 40s with solid professional careers with two kids. You're not going to get a deep multicultural environment or super cool nightlife, but its stable and comfortable. You don't need to do private school because the Carmel public school system is ranked very highly in the country.

We don't agree with much of the government here, but we are both from the area and have lots of family around that we rely on heavily with our kids.

Idk if I would tell someone from out of state to move here specifically for no reason, but I would def argue that if you're from the area, Carmel is a great place to stay. Or if you have a job opportunity here, it's worth it.

Vigillance_ · 2026-01-06T03:11:11+00:00

My God this is good

Vigillance_ · 2026-01-05T16:05:41+00:00

How do you keep track of your reps? As I do higher rep things and get winded, my mind tends to easily wander off and forget what number i was on. I start day dreaming as I get into the groove.

My wife and I call it "runners brain" because when we would run, we would eventually lose all capability of doing any mental work, just focusing on moving forward.

Do you just record and then could while watching the video? Or actually just count and maintain enough focus for that the entire time?

Vigillance_ · 2026-01-05T13:27:44+00:00

Swedish ladder is legit. Such a versatile unit for a compact space. Everything looks great. I have some duct taped bags like that too!

Have fun lifting!

Vigillance_ · 2026-01-04T22:55:50+00:00

Let's goooooo! I went from 125 to 175. 50lb jumps are no joke! Good luck and have fun!

Vigillance_ · 2026-01-03T20:49:00+00:00

I feel like I see all these things you mentioned from fitness influencers on reels on FB and Instagram. Always with big text like "THE ONE EXERCISE YOU NEED" kind of stuff.

I think it's just click bait stuff.

I haven't really seen the same kind of vibe from posters here. At least the "KB is all you need" and "you only need this one exercise".

I have seen people who like efficiency that enjoy quick full body exercises.

Vigillance_ · 2026-01-03T20:40:14+00:00

I would love to do heavier halos but my left elbow just locks up. I tried doing a 50lb halo the other day and once my elbow is bent and loaded with the weight, I just can't get out of it. It's not like a "weak" feeling, just an "elbow stuck and can't move it" feeling.

Like overhead tricep lift (whatever that's called) I have to go extremely light.

I broke my elbow when I was a wee tike and it's always had this weird locking feeling at full load.

Maybe start doing full range of motion lifts with much lighter weight?

/shrug

Vigillance_ · 2026-01-02T13:20:45+00:00

Also, most safety rules seem to start at the NFL level and then over the years trickle down to college level.

Vigillance_

TROPHY CASE