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If you start lifting, those first few weeks are a godsend. Sure, you may be in pain at times and confused about how to do each new exercise, but every week, maybe every workout, you may add more weight to the bar and you will feel unstoppable. However, no pull for weight gain goes on forever. So what to do when the weights stop climbing?

This is the phenomenon often referred to as the “plateau,” and while it seems hopeless, there are innumerable ways to break through. Unless you’re an advanced strength athlete approaching the end of your athletic career (in which case, don’t read this article because you now know how it works), there is always a way forward. Here are some options to consider.

Do more instead of taking a break

While people sometimes suggest taking a break to see a temporary spike in your numbers, this is it just a short term illusion (we all raise a little more when we’ve just taken time off) and not investing in your long-term profits. We usually have to do more to get better.

More what? Well, if you’ve stuck with the same light weights for too long, just take the next heavier dumbbell. If you’re working out at home with bodyweight movements that are too easy to do, you’ll need to find more challenging moves, buy some weights, or actually get your butt off to a gym. Any exercise is better than none, and that might be the ethos you started with. But whoever wants to improve has to ask (as running coach Jason Fitzgerald wisely worded) what is the next logical step.

If you’ve already challenged yourself adequately, you probably need more volume. Think of this in terms of sentences per week. If you do three sets of 10 reps bench press once a week, that’s not a lot of volume. Do five sets of bench presses twice a week, and now you have up to 10 sets for the week in total. Even if you are already in the range of 10-15 sets per week (a typical recommendation), more is probably even better. When preparing for a powerlifting meeting, I had to bench six times a week in my program, or a variation of bench presses for at least five sets each. If you didn’t know, my bank shot up.

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Choose your technique

If you want to improve yourself in a particular lift, correcting your technique can go a long way in getting gains back on track. Hire a coach if you can, or ask a trusted, knowledgeable friend for a form check. (Don’t just ask in an old internet forum; be selective about where your advice comes from.)

You can also watch videos of trainers or experienced lifters going through the intricacies of the tech of your chosen lift. Moloch has one Series “Pillars of …” on squat, bench, and deadlift techniques; Catalyst has a lot Articles and Videos on technique for snapping and clean and wank.

Get more variety in your training

Have you been doing the same lifts over and over and not much else? Maybe you specialize too. Coaches of all sports will talk about dividing your training down into things specific to your sport or focus, as opposed to building a base with GPP, which is general physical preparation.

For a runner, GPP can include strength training and mobility training. For a strength athlete, you may need (and I’m so sorry for that) to do cardio, conditioning, mobility, and exercise with a variety of rep ranges.

So, if you’ve only done a handful of exercises and they are always done in sets of five, doing some or all of the following will greatly improve your fitness:

• Some work harder (heavy singles or triples)
• Some work easier (sets of 10 or even 20)
• Various exercises (not just squats, but also leg presses and lunges)
• Cardio (like workouts on the exercise bike)
• Conditioning (workouts where you do weightlifting exercises or body weight movements at a pace that makes you breathless – Crossfit WODs are an example)
• Exercises that you usually skip (e.g. core work)
• Mobility (including, but not limited to, Strain)

These may not increase your numbers right away, but they will definitely make you a more versatile athlete. Think of this stuff as an investment in your future no matter what happens to your numbers this week.

Get a new exercise program

Are you following an up-to-date program? It’s a major cause of plateaus (I’m just making this up, but I’m also sure it’s true). Instead of training what you feel like doing every day, choose a pre-built program or pay a coach or trainer to write one for you.

A program is a roadmap to get you to a goal. It shows what exercises to do, how hard, what rep ranges, and what else to do (that GPP stuff) to improve. You also need to hold on to it long enough to see results. If you’ve skipped a lot of workouts, or “accidentally” “forgot” certain exercises, all you may need to do is follow the program you are supposed to be doing.

If you’ve been working on one program for a while but it doesn’t work for you, you may need another. Here, too, a coach or experienced friend can be at your side with advice and action.

eat more

If your fitness goals have been a mix of strength and looks – for example, when you’ve been trying to lose weight or get leaner – you may need to take some time to prioritize one over the other.

Your body needs fuel (calories) to exercise hard and protein to build muscle. If you are dieting at the same time, you are not giving your body a lot of energy. If your diet is a priority, you have to accept that your results at the gym may not be ideal. But when you’re ready to get stronger, experiment with eating more food, and especially more protein, and see where that takes you.

While you’re at it, make sure you sleep well as often as possible. Eating and sleeping are the two biggest things you can adjust to help you recover from exercising.

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I recently received a notification that my Gmail account is 90% full. I thought this was impossible because Gmail needs to have unlimited storage. Then it occurred to me that I have had the account since 2008 and have never deleted old, unnecessary emails. If you’re in the same (always full) boat, here are the steps on how to bulk delete old emails in Gmail.

Enter “Label: all mail” in the upper search bar and search option filters will appear below the search bar. You can use these drop-down lists to sort emails by timeframe (in my case everything before 2014 since life didn’t start until you were in your mid-20s), specific senders (like a specific newsletter or an organization that you are no longer a member of ) or anything with an attachment (to free up this valuable space).

Once you’ve narrowed down your parameters, click the box in the top left corner to select all of the emails shown. If you have more than 50 emails (which you will do), click “Select all conversations that match this search” so you don’t just delete the emails that appear on the first page of results. Then click the trash can icon.

Gmail keeps the items in the trash for 30 days before they are permanently deleted. If you need the space sooner, you can go to your trash and immediately delete all of the items forever.

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If you are thinking of painting a room, you are probably envisioning refreshing or remodeling your walls in a new color. But ceilings are a different type of canvas – one that can change the feel of the entire room.

And just because painting the ceiling isn’t necessarily a priority when decorating a room doesn’t mean it should be an afterthought or a sloppy rush. Not to mention, it comes with some unique challenges thanks to gravity and the fact that it’s above you.

But painting the ceiling doesn’t have to be a major mess and is relatively easy if you know what you’re doing. Fortunately, Dee Schlotter, the national color brand manager for PPG The Voice of Color program, Elizabeth gave Lilly some tips on how to get the job done in an article on ThisOldHouse.com. Here’s what you should know.

How to paint a ceiling

First you need the color. Instead of using white by default, Schlotter suggests painting your ceiling either a shade lighter or darker than your walls to do something different. Whichever color you choose, find out how much paint you need by measuring the square footage of the room. The label on the paint can should tell you how much it covers – which one Schlotter says is usually between 300 and 450 square meters.

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Next, prepare the room the way you normally would when painting – either moving things out of the way or covering them. If possible, remove all ceiling fixings. It’s also time to put blue tape around ceiling mounts that you can’t move, or around the point where the ceiling meets the wall.

Now is the time to paint. Get on a stepladder and start with the edges of the ceiling. Schlotter recommends Create a border between two and three inches wide. Once that’s done, put your feet back on the floor and use a roller with an extension handle to finish the job.

Capture the space with diagonal or zigzag strokes in 4 ‘by 4’ sections. Once it’s covered, go over the section again with long strokes to make sure the paint coverage is even. Schlotter explains. Next, go to an adjacent section of the quilt and take the time to blend it into the edge of the section you just painted before it can dry completely.

When you’ve covered the entire ceiling, give the room a uniform look by painting end strokes in the same direction and working lengthways across the ceiling. Schlotter adds.

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Marble isn’t just beautiful – the stone can be a long-lasting feature of your home. This is why it is used to make everything from countertops to floors to showers. And as anyone who has mopped a marble floor before knows, it’s pretty hard.

But at the same time, some of the cleaning products and techniques that are great in other parts of your home can damage marble. Fortunately, the editors of ThisOldHouse.com have put it together instructions on how to safely clean marble. Here’s what you should know.

What to Avoid When Cleaning Marble

Let’s start with the things that can damage marble so it’s clear what to avoid. Here are some examples from the Editor of ThisOldHouse.com:

• Too much pressure or elbow grease can cause the marble to be scratched (or “etched” in marble).
• Acidic detergents – natural or not – can start eating their way into marble in seconds. Examples are vinegar, lemon wedges / juice, Windex, bleach and rust dissolving solutions.
• Alkaline (or basic) cleaning agents can also damage marble. Examples include ammonia, borax, and caustic.
• Grainy, abrasive cleaning agents or rough sponges can cause burns.

How to safely clean marble

Now that you know what to stay away from, here’s how to clean the marble surfaces in your home without damaging them, also courtesy of the Editor of ThisOldHouse.com:

• Use a mild, pH-neutral, non-abrasive soap such as dish soap. There are specialized marble cleaners on the market, but most people already have dish soap (which will do the job) so you don’t have to buy another product.
• Either put a few drops of safe soap on a wet cloth or mix a few drops with some warm water in a spray bottle. Then wipe the marble surface. Only a small amount of soap is needed, and too much can result in a film.
• Once you are done with the soap, immediately rinse the marble, then dry it off.

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Bees may be small, but they play an important role in ecosystems and pollinate trees, flowers, and other plants. But one type of bee does not only pollinate: the carpenter bee.

Unlike bumblebees or honey bees, carpenter bees do not live in colonies. Instead, they drill into the wood and create a nest (which looks like a small, round hole) to lay their eggs, according to Dr. Michael F. Potter, an entomologist at the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.

And sometimes the wood they choose for their nest is part of people’s homes. Once you’ve discovered that carpenter bees have made their home, you may want to encourage them to nest elsewhere – without harming them and thereby harming the local ecosystem. Here’s how to do it.

Interesting facts about carpenter bees

Carpenter bees are big and black and look like bumblebees. The difference is that carpenter bees usually have a shiny, hairless abdomen, while bumblebees typically have a hairy abdomen with black and yellow stripes.

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When it comes to finding a nesting site, carpenter bees prefer unpainted, weathered wood – especially softer varieties such as sequoia, cedar, cypress, and pine. Notes from Potter. So when they do decide to move into your home, they prefer places like eaves, rafters, dashboards, siding, wooden riddled roofs, patios, and patio furniture.

And while carpenter bees don’t typically do as much damage as termites, they can cause both cosmetic and structural damage. Potter explains:

Female carpenter bees dig new tunnels in wood to lay eggs or enlarge and use old ones. Significant damage can occur if the same pieces of wood are attacked year after year. Holes in the wood surface also encourage the ingress of moisture, rot and rot.

Carpenter bees are usually not fans of painted wood. Painting untreated wooden surfaces in your home can therefore prevent them from forming nests in the first place.

This is a safe way to get rid of carpenter bees

If carpenter bees have already made your home their home, there are a few ways to encourage them to move without harming the tiny pollinators. Here are a few featured in an article by Julia Rittenberg in Popular Science:

1. Apply a drop of almond or citrus oil into the nest holes of the carpenter bees, Nick Hoefly, a beekeeper Astor apiaries in Queens, New York, across from Popular Science. They’re not fans of these fragrances and will likely want to move on and find another place to nest. When they are undressed, fill the holes with a wooden spatula or steel wool.
2. Hang up a couple of wind chimes. According to Hoefly, carpenter bees hate their noises, so the constant noise could drive them away.
3. Leave some weathered, untreated pieces of wood that you no longer need outside – but far enough from your home – to provide alternative housing for the carpenter bees.

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You may not think about it often, but that cardboard salt container in your kitchen (the one with the handy metal spout) is quite useful. Not only does it allow you to pour out all that fine salt more easily (without using a spoon that can bring in unwanted moisture), but also can be used again even if it is empty-by repurposing it in a mason jar lid. Not only does this give some life that would otherwise be thrown away, but it also allows other ingredients to be poured in, such as spices, condiments, or cornmeal.

How to make a mason jar dispenser

Making a mason jar dispenser with an empty salt container is pretty straightforward. In addition to your empty salt container, you’ll need a mason jar and either scissors or an X-Acto knife. First, remove the top of the salt container, which you cut to fit the ring on the mason jar. I chose scissors because I’ve seen way too many X-Acto knife wounds over the years. (This is what happens when you have an architect brother; all-nighters and cutting balsa wood with an X-Acto knife are NOT a good combination. But you do.)

Photo: Rachel Fairbank

When you have the wide ribbon lid, the salt container lid will fit almost snugly, and all you need to do is trim the edges a little. If you only have the little tape lids, it will help to draw an outline of the lid so you can cut the salt lid to size. It’s important to make sure it fits snugly and covers the entire ring – otherwise your ingredients will spill out if you try to pour them out, which will ruin the purpose.

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When I made my own mason jar dispenser, I used it for the raw sugar I buy in bulk from Costco. Buying Turbinado sugar in this amount is significantly cheaper than buying a smaller box with a metal spout, but not nearly as convenient. In the past I tried pouring the loose sugar into one of the empty boxes, but there was never a good way to open and close the lid. Instead, I had to tape the lid back on, which was painful and also made it difficult to reuse the box multiple times.

As it turned out, reusing an old salt container was the perfect solution to my sugar problems – but you can use it for any condiment or condiment you’d like to pour in small quantities.

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Starting October 1, SNAP monthly food aid will increase by an average of $ 36 per person, the largest increase in the program’s 46-year history. Here’s what you need to know to qualify for increased food aid – which you can get as a college student too.

Everyone in the SNAP program can get additional help

The hike is the result of the revision of the Ministry of Agriculture Economical nutrition planwho have favourited the list of foods the government uses to estimate the minimal cost of a nutritious diet. Other than inflation adjustments, the number has not increased since 1962.

On average, the monthly benefits offer an additional $ 36 on top of the $ 121 per person per person prior to the pandemic – a jump of 25% per month. This change is also coming in a timely manner, as COVID relief subsidies that 15% added to the SNAP benefits are expected to end in October while the new permanent increases go into effect.

How do I qualify for SNAP Food Aid?

Eligibility for SNAP benefit is based on a few factors related to household expenses, but in general must be your net income at or below the poverty line.

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Students ages 18-49 who are enrolled in college at least half the time are not eligible for SNAP. However, there are some exceptions, such as: B. if you work 20 hours as a student or have a physical or mental disability. More details on exceptions can be found here.

In addition, these additional exceptions still apply within the framework of the COVID aid legislation:

1. You are a student who is entitled to take part in state or federally funded work studies during the regular school year. (Your college or university will determine whether you are eligible for a job study.)
2. You are a student who is a. Has Expected family contribution (EFC) Score of zero in the current academic year. Students receive an EFC after applying for the grant.

When you qualify, your SNAP benefit will be mailed to you electronic debit cards (EBT), which can be used nationwide at more than 238,000 authorized dealers.

For more information on eligibility requirements and how SNAP awards are calculated, see Click here. To apply, visit your government agency’s website, which you can find here.

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When you live with someone, you share your things. You both use the smart speaker to listen to music all over the house and you both use the smart lights to show your friends (“Look, I can turn them blue!”). The point is, they’re all using the same smart devices, and it’s time to tie those devices to the same email address too.

Smart devices need an email address in order to function

Smart devices – including smart speakers, smart lights, and smart locks, to name a few – often need to be linked to an account in order to function. Sometimes they fit into a common “Home” app, but sometimes they need a separate account. This is usually not a big deal; You set up the device, enter an email and password, and boom, your lights are now voice controlled while your light switches are never used again.

But you inevitably have to tinker with this smart device. You may need to use the app to change a setting; maybe there is a new update that you need to apply to the system; or maybe you need to control the device from a new phone. And what if you try to do this thing for the smart device? It asks for your email and password.

If you’re setting up these things in a rush – as we often do – you may have simply walked back and forth with your partner to set up the systems. Maybe one device is under your account, another under theirs, and so on. Collect enough devices and trying to remember which device is under which account becomes a frustrating exercise: “Is the Sonos under your or my email?” “I have four different emails ; it could be under any of them. ”“ You have four different emails? ”

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Why you should create a common email for smart devices

Avoid the headaches, avoid the need to keep a master list of all your devices and their accounts, and avoid answering questions about your many email addresses. Just do yourself and your household a favor by creating a shared email account.

Think about it: the smart lights under one email, your smart doorbell under one email, the TV and all its apps and services under one email. No more guessing, no more waiting for someone to come out of a meeting to ask what the smart speaker’s email is – all under the same simple system.

This tip basically works for any type of account you and your partner might use together. Never again wonder whose email is associated with your streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Max. Have access to the same calendar, which you can both view and edit together; Sign up for a cloud-based to-do app so you can keep an eye on shopping lists. It just makes common tasks a lot easier.

A common email address is not the be-all and end-all

Of course, that doesn’t mean that separate email addresses aren’t in the picture. Keep your personal account for your own correspondence, independent accounts, and the like. No need to clutter a partner’s inbox with your own messages (there is already enough junk mail for that). Save the joint account for the things that benefit both of you.

A common email address isn’t the only solution either. You could get a similar result with a password manager, as you could put all of your different accounts in one family vault that the two of you work from. However, the best password managers are paid subscriptions. Email is free.

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