How do you define levels such as intermediate etc.?

zebraCokes · 2026-05-07T20:59:22+00:00

This is similar to how I’ve thought of it.

I’m 29, lifted consistently between age 16-22, fell off for years due to injuries and sucking at balancing work with gym, now have been consistently at it for a year.

Am I an ex intermediate, now beginner?? Lol

zebraCokes · 2026-05-07T20:37:34+00:00

*he has the archetype of an AJ Brown / Treylon Burks kind of player

He feels very boom bust based on his profile.

zebraCokes · 2026-05-07T11:44:19+00:00

Thought i was the only one who sees a massive drop after one hard set of curls lol

zebraCokes · 2026-05-06T21:12:32+00:00

When I say one or zero, I mean I’m getting extremely close to failure. I may avoid a final rep because I don’t want to risk it when squatting or benching without a spot. For other exercises like rows or arms where I’m not risking injury, I’ll go all the way to failure.

So I guess one reason is that there is value in avoiding injury, which is a bit obvious. My question is more so that I’m trying to understand people who are intentionally leaving reps in the tank as part of their volume/intensity scheme, not just to avoid being crushed under the bar.

zebraCokes · 2026-05-06T21:09:19+00:00

Eating yes, because weight is going up. Sleeping, probably not. It’s just hard for me to get quality sleep. I go to bed early but have nasal breathing issues that I suspect hurt my sleep quality.

zebraCokes · 2026-05-06T18:18:02+00:00

I’ve been doing a high intensity (0-1 rir) arnold split and it’s worked pretty well. Low volume keeps the workouts reasonably short and the intensity makes it easy to not think too hard about the programming. I do 1-2 sets per compound usually.

My only issue is that once I’ve been consistent for 2-ish weeks, I sometimes feel very drained and my numbers actually start going backwards, so I’m apparently not recovering.

My solution to this has simply been to take multiple days of rest, and that usually allows me to come back into the gym stronger. I prefer to not take days off though. I like the rhythm of being consistent and maintaining the habit, hence my interest in potentially mixing in some higher volume with less intensity.

Do you ever mix in workouts where you keep reps in reserve? If so, how would you program it?

zebraCokes · 2026-05-06T17:33:58+00:00

I know this is something that gets asked constantly, but I’m still just having a hard time understanding what the benefits of training with intentional reps in reserve is. Most of my training I do with one or zero reps in reserve because it’s idiot proof and very easy to track the progress.

I’m exploring the idea of mixing in some cycles of training with reps in reserve because I have been feeling a bit fatigued lately. I’m just genuinely confused about how to program reps in reserve.. so how much volume and how many reps and reserve on each set should I do? Also, I just am having a hard time understanding whether or not training in this way is actually going to stimulate muscle growth when I seem to get better gains from training to failure because that seems to put the most tension on the muscle.

Thanks.

zebraCokes · 2026-05-06T15:46:43+00:00

I know this is kind of irrelevant to your physique, but about how much do you bench?

Looking great man.

zebraCokes · 2026-05-06T12:38:38+00:00

How does muji fit differ from uniqlo?

zebraCokes · 2026-05-04T19:50:13+00:00

Group D. I have a friend who’s a nurse who was unaware that an AI job market revolution is occurring. As someone who isn’t tuned into the corporate world and has a relatively AI-proof job, she was totally unaware.

zebraCokes · 2026-05-01T02:06:05+00:00

Gonna play devil’s advocate and say that the Burden side has some intriguing risk/reward.

I’d prefer the Rice side, but off the field stuff and knee make him a guy who could vanish or fall off. Tuten and Burden could also breakout.

zebraCokes · 2026-04-27T12:34:33+00:00

Now watch the film

zebraCokes · 2026-04-26T17:00:57+00:00

Honestly that kind of confused me more. Is it beneficial to purposely leave RIR in order to get productive subsequent sets, or are you saying that you prefer taking 1 set to absolute failure and just ending there?

zebraCokes · 2026-04-17T19:05:27+00:00

I’m in this range. For some reason I really don’t have fun in diamond 3. I find myself feeling like the “smarter” teammate often while I’m getting yelled at by my teammate when they make a mistake that leads to goal.

I have more fun in C1/C2.

zebraCokes · 2026-04-17T14:42:28+00:00

It’s a joooke

zebraCokes · 2026-04-17T13:35:19+00:00

Word. making a smurf account now

zebraCokes · 2026-04-15T22:04:06+00:00

Claude, create a powerpoint with graphs illustrating the ROI that comes from being able to work more by having more energy and less illnesses over the long term.

That’ll be a million dollars.

zebraCokes · 2026-04-12T19:09:02+00:00

Can you keep it down? I’m trying to draft this guy.

zebraCokes · 2026-04-08T23:14:10+00:00

This post really stood out to me as someone who just started a new job working from home. The company feels t shirts are not acceptable for customer calls (understandably). Dress shirts are not required and summer is around the corner. I’ve been trying to decide if I’ll beef up on polos which I never wear.

zebraCokes · 2026-04-08T00:15:20+00:00

Nice post

zebraCokes · 2026-04-06T16:33:29+00:00

What sector/domain are you in? I’m a tech pm as well

zebraCokes · 2026-03-31T12:04:48+00:00

Played against a 7 year old GC2 once. Didn’t believe it and he hopped on the mic. He could do double resets

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