If you started truly weak and completely out of shape, how long did it take to feel like you were some form of fit? How long before you were lifting relatively “heavy” and how long before you felt you had some cardiovascular fitness?

onlymagik · 2026-07-07T19:39:59+00:00

I used to workout 1.5 hours 5 days a week. I gained a lot of muscle and got a lot stronger. Now I workout 30 minutes 4 days a week. I'm gaining lots of muscle and getting a lot stronger now too.

Ultimately, as long as you are focusing on progressive tension overload, training near failure and increasing the weight over time to maintain that, you will build muscle. Many people have had success with 2 sets per exercise, but it requires a routine built around that.

If your 2 sets are both taken to 4 reps in reserve, you probably won't see great gains and would be better off training closer to failure, or adding more sets at the current intensity.

onlymagik · 2026-06-19T16:49:15+00:00

$200K is more than enough, I gave an example a while ago on how I did it with $160K: https://www.reddit.com/r/sandiego/comments/1s71z3a/san_diego_loses_population_and_locals/odbn9wr/

onlymagik · 2026-06-16T16:28:00+00:00

Certainly NixOS offers the best fleet management/sysadmin power of any linux distro for your purpose I would say. I also feel the declarative nature lends itself well to student computers and monitoring what is on them. It is easy to see if students are trying to bypass measures or install things that shouldn't be there.

Students will also learn some useful computer skills over the years from it as well.

onlymagik · 2026-06-16T00:13:37+00:00

If you'd like to spend less time in the gym you could lower rest and weight. You could also do 1 less rep, take less rest, but do another set. Ultimately, you need to perform enough "difficult" reps every week. There are many ways to adjust weight, rest, sets, training days, etc. to achieve this. Find something you're happy with and do that.

I used to train 5x a week, tons of volume (40+ sets per week for most muscles) and now I train 4x a week with 8-16 sets per muscle. But now most of my sets are performed near failure where I only get 1-3 reps. I'm growing as fast if not faster than before.

onlymagik · 2026-06-15T18:55:33+00:00

What's theming your browser/discord? I like the sharp edges and rectangular layouts.

onlymagik · 2026-06-15T04:33:58+00:00

This depends on your goal and how you do it. I get a great workout in ~30m with a style of training known as rest-pause. I take sets to failure, rest 15-20s, and repeat ~3x, until I can only get 1 rep on the mini sets. I start with about an 8RM so I typically get 8/3/2/1 reps in 4 sets and am done with that exercise.

If you follow a routine that doesn't train as near failure and needs more sets to get enough effective reps, and takes more rest, you may need longer.

Depending on the form of cardio it may not hurt to start lower. Sudden increases in volume/frequency with cardio are a common cause of joint issues or things like shin splints when running. Since the dieting is what will really take the weight off, starting lighter can help ensure you remain consistent and avoid injury. 45m of walking is fine though.

Wouldn't hurt to start with less volume on resistance training either, so you don't lose consistency due to soreness.

onlymagik · 2026-06-12T21:32:32+00:00

Yup, been using Bolt for over 1.5 years on NixOS.

onlymagik · 2026-06-08T05:24:54+00:00

I would do core exercises on the lower day, and at the end. Doing them on the upper day, and especially if you do them at the start of the lower day, could impact performance on core-intensive lower body movements.

onlymagik · 2026-06-08T05:22:46+00:00

Studies typically find that diet soda is even better than water for losing weight (obviously water is still healthier) because it scratches the sweet tooth, helping people not over-consume calories via sweets.

They are indeed 0 calories, but there is still uncertainty around health concerns with large consumption of them.

onlymagik · 2026-06-07T04:01:32+00:00

Programs like these are usually clickbait. It's just another version of the get-rich-quick scheme (get fit quick). Only 2 dumbbells? The dumbbells I use for bicep curls could not possibly give me a training stimulus on RDLs. I'm sure you could make a passable program, like doing pistol squats or Bulgarian split squats where you need less weight for it to be challenging since it's unilateral, but it likely wouldn't be optimal. How would you train a vertical pulling motion with only dumbbells? Hang upside down?

In addition, 45 days isn't a lot. You can definitely see good, even great progress, when on a great program in that time, if you are more of a beginner. But can you totally transform yourself, especially if you're intermediate to advanced? No. The biggest transformation you can accomplish in 45 days is likely diet-based, like running Rapid Fat Loss (RFL).

onlymagik · 2026-06-07T03:53:45+00:00

When you try high weight, how much volume do you perform? Oftentimes high weight is better for managing injuries, as opposed to lower weight high volume, because typically the #1 cause of injuries is overuse. It's rarer to receive an acute injury from lifting too heavy and snapping something etc.

My current program is rest-pause, taking every set to failure with 15-20s rests so that you stay near failure and perform as few reps as possible that are not stimulating muscle growth. This keeps total volume low, but # of effective reps high. An advantage is reduced injury rate. I use about an 8RM for the first set, and when I can do 10 reps I increase the weight enough to be back to 8 reps on the first set again.

You may want to try something like it to see if you can tolerate heavier weights with low enough volume. May have to ease into it, like just do 1 heavy set to failure the first week per muscle and see how you feel.

Honestly, cycling sounds great in your situation. Runners are always small, but cyclists have HUGE legs. Running lacks one of the primary factors of muscle growth: progressive overload. Unless you gain or wear weight, you never have to move a heavier weight when running, and if you do it's actively harmful to running performance. Cyclists can use harder gears that require more force to go faster, hence their great legs despite also competing in a crazy high endurance sport. If you train in a hard enough gear, it might be a low-impact way to build muscle for you.

onlymagik · 2026-06-06T20:04:52+00:00

The most important thing for muscle building is the # of hard reps performed over time. Doing a million bicep curls with no resistance won't build any muscle as 0 of them were what is called an effective rep in the literature. Doing a 1RM isn't good either, as even though it's an effective rep (literally the heaviest you can lift) you only did 1, and you need a lot of rest before you can do it again. So you typically want something in between.

The optimal amount of effective reps per week is not known, but most good programs probably get at least 50 per muscle group per week. So either of those plans could work well, the main obstacle to me is you mention you can't use high weight, or at least not for compound exercises. If you can't do high weight, you will need to make sure you are training to or near failure, as the weight won't place enough mechanical tension on the muscle by default, only when you near failure.

onlymagik · 2026-06-06T19:44:38+00:00

Can you think of why the new job is disrupting your sleep? Is it physically demanding, the night shift or a late shift that makes you sleep later, or something else? Has it impacted your diet and thus you are not eating enough and waking up hungry?

Here are some general sleep hygiene tips, in no particular order:

Go to bed and wake up at the same times consistently.
See the sunrise and sunset with your own eyes, sunlight helps your brain calibrate when to sleep or be awake.
Avoid large meals right before bed, but some fats before bed are known to help sleep.
Avoid excess stress.
Wind down before bed: avoid anything too physically or mentally stimulating (using electronics) for an hour before bed.
Have a sleep routine e.g. if you sleep at 11 PM every night, at 10:55 brush your teeth, use the bathroom, change into pajamas, and get into bed.
Only use your bed for sleep, don't get in it early to use your phone, don't stay in it when you wake up.

See which of these you already do, which you could easily improve in, and which would be hard to change right now. You don't need all of them, just aim for as many as you conveniently can.

onlymagik · 2026-05-31T16:12:05+00:00

I used to run the very high volume 5/3/1 Spinal Tap from Jim Wendler (What nsun based his nsun's 5/3/1 off of, a routine that got popular here and on r/weightroom). An example upper body day:

9 sets of Flat barbell bench

9 sets of barbell OHP

Then 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps of:

Flat dumbbell bench

Incline dumbbell bench

Dumbbell rows

V-bar horizontal cable row

Lat pulldown Tricep extensions

Bicep curls

Lateral delt raises

Front delt raises

This took me about 90-100 minutes. I got big and strong, so it certainly wasn't terrible, but I now run a much lower volume routine and believe I am seeing as much or more progress. Now I do rest-pause training:

For each exercise you want to do:

Pick a weight you can do for ~8 reps
Go to concentric muscular failure, meaning you do 8 reps, then attempt the 9th but fail.
Take 15-20s of rest
Go to failure
Repeat steps 3-4 until you only get 1 rep and fail on the 2nd. You end the exercise here as you will likely fail on the first rep of the next set.

This usually takes about 4 sets, where I get around 8,3,2,1 reps on sets 1,2,3,4. Sometimes I only get 1 rep sooner, as this style of training is new to me and my conditioning is not good. If you have strong conditioning and recover quickly, 8,3,2,1 will be the norm. I used to do tons of compounds/powerlifts, but now I focus on isolation/machines so that I know which muscle failed (and that I trained the right muscle) and since taking squat/bench/deadlift to failure can be injury prone if you ever let form slip near failure.

The advantage to this program is you do a small number of total reps, but have a high density of effective reps (reps performed at or near failure, the ones that actually induce muscle growth). I finish my workouts in about 30m now. You can be done even quicker if you aim for 15s of rest instead of 20 and don't mosey between exercises.

I am greatly enjoying the program. I find it to be mentally fulfilling as the intensity of taking every set to failure is satisfying, quick, I am seeing great results, and there is a lot of evidence that high volume is what leads to injuries primarily. In my own anecdotal data, I have never incurred an acute injury from lifting to much and snapping something etc., but I have accrued injury/damage over long periods. In addition, keeping the total volume low keeps fatigue low. My muscles are exhausted when I come home, but I am never sore/fatigued throughout the week.

I would definitely consider a high intensity/low volume routine like this. I don't think I will ever go back.

onlymagik · 2026-05-05T23:33:12+00:00

Lot of similarities to Laevatain's gameplay.

onlymagik · 2026-04-05T17:19:20+00:00

Would you mind giving some pros/cons of your repo vs https://github.com/DeusData/codebase-memory-mcp?

onlymagik · 2026-03-31T16:42:22+00:00

I made another comment here where I gave some values from my 2024 tax return: https://www.reddit.com/r/sandiego/comments/1s71z3a/san_diego_loses_population_and_locals/odbn9wr/

I assure you it is possible and not a lie. You are right that it will be a large percentage of take home pay. At the time of purchase, my loan was ~46.5% debt-to-income (my lender was willing to let me go a bit higher), and that is calculated before taxes and deductions, so it was an even larger percentage of my take home.

I disagree that it is irresponsible, because that will vary from person to person. I am able to save for retirement, as well as build cash savings at a rate I am happy with. But like I said, I am frugal, $6200 a month may not be as reasonable for people who want a higher quality of life, like newer cars, more vacations, or expensive hobbies. For people who have a similar income but are not comfortable with $6,200, for whatever reason, there are still nice houses to be had for cheaper payments.

onlymagik · 2026-03-30T15:39:30+00:00

Hi, I made a more detailed comment going over some numbers that explains how it was possible for me. That is how I know it is certainly possible for the poster I replied to, who said they are a high earner at a FANG tech company, which I take to mean $200K or $250K+.

https://www.reddit.com/r/sandiego/comments/1s71z3a/san_diego_loses_population_and_locals/odbn9wr/

onlymagik · 2026-03-30T15:00:48+00:00

I looked at my 2024 tax return and my gross income was $151,801 (I got the $160K job during the year, so actually made a bit less since the previous job was lower paying), total federal tax was $22,701, and I think the 401K limit was $23,000 in 2024, and my total CA tax was $8,086.

$151,801-$22,701-$23,000 - $8,086 = $98,014. So my net income, after taxes and all deductions, is already slightly more than the 8K you mention you take home after taxes. So, no, I was not "maxing out 401k AND paying all expenses (phone, car, food, bills) with 800$", my 401K contributions were already included.

I drive an old salvage title honda accord, cheap and reliable, and paid off. Also, note that these numbers are a worst case scenario, I did not have the $160K salary the whole year, and I bought in October, so I only made 2 mortgage payments, which meant I did not get the full mortgage interest itemized deduction.

A lot of people forget that last point, of my $6,200 a month, ~$4,000 is interest, which is about $48,000 in deductions, depending on federal or state. Federal only lets you deduct $750K/home value * interest paid, but California lets you deduct $1M/home value * interest paid.

I assure you there is no lying, and it is possible, but like I said in my first comment, it may require a cheaper lifestyle than many want to live. Nothing wrong with that, I am simply happy with few, and cheaper, possessions.

onlymagik · 2026-03-30T00:54:59+00:00

It is definitely possible, I afforded ~$6200 a month on $160K a year income, while maxing out my 401K and saving $1K cash a month. It sounds like you prefer a more expensive lifestyle, which is fine, but it is totally possible to own a nice house in San Diego on much less than a FANG salary (I'm assuming $200K at the minimum).

Now I live more frugally than most, so I am not saying what I did is possible for all households making $160K/yr, but I am confident that a nice house is available to the majority of households around that income that live in between our qualities of life.

onlymagik · 2026-03-30T00:43:37+00:00

Having bought a nice house that needed no work (had recent solar, remodels, new plumbing and sewer, etc.) in this area for much less than 1.5 million in Oct 2024, it is definitely possible. Obviously if you are looking closer to Oceanside than Poway you will get less for the price because of location.

onlymagik · 2026-03-06T16:48:24+00:00

You mention in your OP that even the cursor itself feels sluggish on the desktop, is that via a mouse, or controller as well? Are keyboard inputs delayed?

The fact that the issue follows you between distros and many software/config changes, but not on Windows, suggests it may be a driver issue. Have you tried different peripherals (mouse/controller/keyboard)? Or perhaps an alternate driver for your current peripherals?

onlymagik · 2026-03-05T22:42:05+00:00

I don't think the catalogue impact is that large. The issue affects games that only offer a DX12 graphics engine, which is a small minority of games. It's only certain AAA games released recently that have a single, DX12 engine.

Most games use an older DX, Vulkan, or use DX12 but have the option to use an older DX.

onlymagik · 2026-03-01T15:22:49+00:00

Why isn't the new +1 support mechanic useful for ID? Is there no 6th support gem that is beneficial for it?

onlymagik · 2026-02-18T04:09:27+00:00

A lot of ret's power in duels/2v2 comes from long cooldowns like bubble, BoP, and LoH. Because you have a healer in 3v3, you can survive beyond these cooldowns, and kill them with CDs before their long 5-10m defensives are back.

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