I think I'll look up gym fails later. in The Napkin.

I saw a trainer showing a twig how to do shrugs. Shrugs? Are you kidding me? This is partly why I didn’t want to go into personal training. I can’t insult people like that. Shrugs? Dude, you gotta deadlift* if you want traps.

But, more importantly, n00bs be all “I have these weak points…”

Son. Your entire body is a weak point.

It’s always relative “how strong” you should be before employing isolation work, but the big picture is the bulk of your routine should be big lifts (squat/deadlift/bench/row/press/pull-ups). Don’t waste your energy with curls if you can’t do a pull-up. Don’t waste your time with leg extensions if you can’t bodyweight squat. And I mean ACTUALLY squat.

If you can’t squat, have fun getting off the toilet.

“But, Timmy, what if they’re too heavy to do a pull-up?”

Then DUH, their priority should be body composition, not curls.

I finished my workout with some overhead shrugs and some scapular pull-ups. Former to help my OHP lockout, the later, well. It’s partly scapular depression and downward rotation. And, wooo, just hanging there really feels nice. Must be some spinal decompression.

Got a compliment from a guy, saying nobody does them, stating they’re good at helping pull-ups. I know this, but hey, cool.

I think the crux of my depressive episode has passed. Don’t know where I’d be if I hadn’t forced myself to lift today. Just sucks that I have to “torture” myself to feel better.

Remind me: It’s not normal to have suicidal thoughts on a weekly basis, right? Ha ha. ..Ha?

Is it such a simple thing to ask that I not have to WORK at my depression daily? It’s exhausting. Gosh, I’m almost looking forward to when I can medicate myself again. PRESCRIPTION, PEOPLE.

*Oh, to circle back. I’ve never really done proper shrugs in a routine. Guys loading up in the squat rack and doing shrugs? Or the smith machine? No, haven’t done it. But I have pictures from before I started lifting years ago. My traps aren’t huge, but I’ve gone from concave to convex traps. One does not simply pull three plates with concave traps.