"So, What Do You Do for Fun?"

She asks it casually, mid-sip. And you feel the floor open up, because the honest answer is work, gym, and a couple shows you're half-watching.

Women rarely say this out loud, but a man with a life is attractive before he says a word. The guy who spent Saturday deep-sea fishing and came back with photos and a story — he walks in already interesting.

The "22 Rules" pushed me to build a life worth talking about. Turns out the fastest way to be interesting to women is to be interested in your own life first.

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How am I doing?

ValleyDJing

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The Workout (appx)

Seated Row (machine)...170lbs sets of 10, 8, 7
Lat Flexor (machine)...225lbs sets of 10, 8, 6
Incline Press (machine)...165lbs sets of 10, 7, 5
Dips w/15 lbs weight...3-5 sets of 10
Leg Press (machine)...390lbs 1 set of 10 and 310lbs 2 sets of 10
Calf Raise (machine)...210 lbs 3 sets of 10
Ab Crunch (machine)...155lbs 3 sets of 12
Hammer Curls 30lbs dumbells...sets of 10 (for each arm), 8, and 6
Pec Fly (machine)...160 lbs 3 sets of 10
Posterior Deltoid Fly (machine)...115lbs 3 sets of 10
Deltoid Raise (machine)...65 lbs sets of 10, 8, 6
Shoulder Shrugs with 45lbs dumbells...3 sets of 20
Curls with 30lbs dumbells...sets of 10 (for each arm), 8, 6
Bench Press...135lbs 3 sets of 10
Lat pulldown with narrow grip for forearm strenthening...130lbs 3 sets of 10

Essential Info

Hopefully I was descriptive enough, but this is an approximate typical workout of recent, give or take an excercise or 2 and 20lbs or so. All in all, I'm at the gym for 1-1/2 hours 4 or 5 nights a week. More ab work on my off days. Currently 155lbs, been lifting seriously the last 4 months solid, light lifting the past 3 off and on. I would like to add 10lbs before the end of the summer in lean muscle. So my question is this...Good or bad, is this gonna get me there? My diet somewhat sucks, although I'm doing the best I can to improve it, given my time constraints and resources. I use the machines mostly cause I don't have a partner/spotter 9 out of 10 times I go to the gym.

The Question

Break it down for me, rip it apart, tell me it sucks, good job, tell me what I need to add, what I need to cut out, alter, whatever. I would be very appreciative. - ValleyDJing
 

"Why Women Dump the Guys Who Try the Hardest"

You paid for dinner. You drove. You said "whatever you want is fine" every single time. All the effort, no expectations.

And she left anyway — probably for a guy who makes her pick up the pizza.

Painful. Also predictable. Her mind quietly concludes that anything requiring zero effort from her is worth exactly zero. You became a free sample, and free samples get taken for granted.

The 22 Rules flip the dynamic. Small shifts that get her investing effort, money, and time in you — until SHE'S the one afraid of losing YOU.

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Falcon

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I only spot one of the big three exercises. I feel you are missing out on a lot of potential leaving out the squat and deadlift. Compound exercises are your friend. I would also fit in pull-ups and hang clean. With the lifting aside, your diet is very important and it looks like you already know that.

Also, try to have separate workouts for at least legs and upperbody.
 

donjuanjovi

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All I see is machine, machine, machine, machine.......... Afraid of barbells?
 

EFFORT

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I'd trash that routine and run a basic proven to work routine like the one from starting strength or the idiots guide to growth which would be a good read for you as well.

Gotta get your diet together too, you can't say your "lifting seriously" if your diet sucks. You also don't need to be in the gym 4-5 days a week, i'd keep lifting to 2 or 3 days a week.
 

ValleyDJing

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Cool. Thanks for the replies. Yeah I do a lot of machines cause I usually don't have a spotter and having a 145lbs barbell falling on my chest doesn't sound too fun. I've been trying to get my buddies to go in with me, but its a crapshoot.

As for my diet, I'm really trying. I've cut back on the sweets and fats and I've almost completely eliminated soda from my diet. The problem lies in not having the time or know how to cook I think. I usually end up having at least 1 fast food meal a day, sometimes 2 :eek:. Full time student, work partime, plus I do have a social life.

But anyways, I suppose I'll try and incorporate more dumbell work into my excercises and keep looking for a lifting partner. The smith machine could probably be good for squats no?
 

"She's Out of Your League"

You've said it a hundred times. Maybe a thousand. And every time you say it, you train your brain to freeze the next time she walks into the room.

Leagues are a myth invented by guys who are scared of women.

She's a person. She has bad breath in the morning. She picks songs she can't sing in the shower. She overthinks her own texts.

Walk over. Say something. The league dissolves the second you open your mouth.

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Warboss Alex

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Acquaint yourself with some free weights!

You can do just about every exercise without a spotter. Set up your bench in the power rack and you're good to go, otherwise there's dumbbells. Other than that what else needs a spotter.
 

mrRuckus

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Espi said:
Also, on the bench press, you should "pyramid up" the weight instead of maintaining 135 lbs. for 3 sets.
Why?
 

ChicagoStyle

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mrRuckus said:
Why? There's no need for this.

w3rd, especially if he's only benching 135. He should be keeping the weight uniform throughout all sets and trying to increase the load whenever possible imho....
 

ValleyDJing

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Sometimes I go up some on the bench, higher weight, lower reps. But yeah, basically I don't trust free weights all that much. I hurt my back a while ago doing squats, so I've been hesitant to do that s.hit recently.
 
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