Unlabeled diagram of leg muscles

I have been going to the gym for almost 9 months now. During this time, I have modeled my workout program as shown below. I would like to understand whether I am missing any muscle group and what can I do to improve.
My main aim is to lose weight and increase muscle tone. I am a male in my thirties and currently weigh 105Kg (down from 133 some years back).
I visit the gym between 3 to 4 times a week and I currently have a 2 day program. Each time I go, I try to fit in around 30 minutes of cardio at the end of the session.
I thought of splitting into more days but then I feel that the time between workouts would be too long?
Day 1

• Leg Press Machine
• Deadlifts
• Sitting Calf Raise
• Standing Leg Curl
• Seated Leg Extensions
• Shoulder Press Machine
• Face Pulls
• Dumbbell Curls
• Overhand Barbell Curls

Day 2

• Lat Pulldowns
• Close Grip Cable Rows
• Standing Cable Pullovers
• Dumbbell Row
• Flat Bench Press
• Chest Press Machine
• Tricep Pushdown
• One Arm Tricep Pushdown

25F, BMI healthy range, no smoking, no drugs, low alcohol consumption. Physical job, good shape. Medications beclometasone (asthma), sertraline. North Europe.
EYES: For the past month I have had nonstop visual problems which feels like a migraine aura. My vision is grainy like TV static noise. If I look at a geometric pattern, it starts moving: if I stand on our geometric rug and look down, my feet disappear from my vision. If lighting changes, I see white and black spots and patches moving around. If I close my eyes, I also see patches moving, even flashing lights sometimes. I struggle to focus on looking at things, other thigns around the focus point start moving or then I have double vision. I have occasional pain behind my **left eye**, a feeling of pressure, sometimes tingling and goosebumbs in the eyesocket. One night red spots (petechiae) appeared around this eye.
VERTIGO/EARS: I have vertigo on and off. At worst I couldn't stand straight without swaying and even crawled on the floor cause everything was spinning. If I close my eyes and try to walk or stand on one leg, I fall down. (Normally I do sports that require good balance and am able to eg. go up and down a rope on one leg and jump onto obstacles and slide while downhill skiing.) I have tinnitus, mainly low noise like holding an ear against a seashell, sometimes periods of loud beeps. Once I lost hearing in my **left ear** for a period of time.
COGNITIVE: I forget things a lot and struggle to focus. I've always been absentminded but never this featherbrained. Before in my life I had never lost my bank card, and only once left the house while forgetting my keys inside. Now in a short period of time I have lost my bank card twice and keys twice and only got them back with the help of strangers. I have also felt just generally disorientated at times, asking stupid questions and misunderstanding what I'm told and just having very absurd thought chains that leave me acting like an idiot over something that could be done simply.
NUMBNESS: My legs, hands from elbow down, and mouth went numb last Saturday and still remain a little bit numb. I struggled walking, had to sit down a lot, and my grip wasn't as tight as normal. I felt lightheaded standing. I could speak and smile, though, and my face wasn't and never has been droopy. When I smile, though, the muscles on the left side of my mouth tense up unusually with wrinkles that used not to be there.
SWALLOWING: I struggle swallowing at times, threw up water once and just keep coughing at other times. (The petechiae I mentioned earlier happened after I threw up, so it could also be a result of that.)
EXHAUSTION: One day I was able to stay awake for just five hours (granted I was in the ER the past night for numbness), another night I slept for like fifteen hours. I am tired a lot, some days all I can do is lie in bed or sit on couch, other days I have to take more breaks and just go to bed right after work (if I've been even able to get to work.)
Tests so far: EKG normal. CBC normal. Blood pressure within normal range, a little elevated in one test but could have been just me worrying about not being able to stand at the time. Blood sugar and culture normal.
Tried so far: Headache does not respond to ibuprofen or paracetamol. I tried Epley manoeuvre for two weeks as a doctor suggested it, either that or rest from sick leave days might have improved the vertigo from "unable to stand without swaying" to "just annoying." Eye strain helps somewhat when I take off my glasses.
I feel like doctors aren't taking me seriously, even brought up my mental health history out of the bush like I'm imagining things even though I'm all gucci on that end. I get that my symptoms are unusual as a whole and they find it unlikely it's anything acute, but my life is so hellish with this shit, it's like flipping a coin if I'll be lying in bed all day with a headache and nausea and numbness and what not, or when I do drag my ass to work, if I gotta drag a chair around cause I struggle standing, and keep pushing myself to the end of the shift telling myself "just one more hour." It's also annoying I haven't seen properly for a month, even now writing this hurts my head. It's like they are hiding referrals like government secrets lol.
Background information: I have asthma and alfa-1-antitrypsin-deficiency (MZ alleles). I have also been on sertraline for years. (I did stop it last autumn when a doctor suggested it wasn't necessary anymore. I have family history of bipolar, and experienced a two week period of hypomania like symptoms after stopping. Soon after, a stressful life event triggered a depressive episode, which lasted for two months, but subsided as I started the medication again and got over the stressful life event. For the past four months I have had less stress than normally, I have been happy, I love my new work, I have friends, etc. When starting and ending sertraline I had mild side symptoms such as a feeling of vertigo for a second or two when moving my head quickly, but I would find it quite strange that a medication that has worked well for me for years would suddenly be behind all these strange symptoms that started about a month ago.)

My 6 year old cane corso is suddenly unable to walk on his left hind leg as of today, a few lumps also suddenly appeared on the leg (the ankle/hock according to a dog anatomy diagram).
He is whimpering in pain and just wants to cuddle. He will still eat treats but not his regular food. He cannot put any weight on it. It appears to hurt constantly, but he also flinches if I touch it. The lumps feel soft and spring back when gently poked.
He was fine this morning and by this evening was in that state. It's raining so he did not play in the yard (he hates the rain) and had a very chill day so I can't see that he could have injured it on anything. I will try to link a photo.
Vets have closed for the day and will take him straight in tomorrow. What can I do to help him be more comfortable tonight? And what could this be?
He was recently diagnosed with arthritis as he had become quite slow to move from laying to standing and seemed stiff from time to time, could it be to do with that?). I am really worried but don't know if this is an "urgent after hours animal hospital" situation, or a wait for first thing tomorrow? (It's 7pm)
Photo https://tinypic.host/image/20240514-182217.D9QObX

be me; ex LizarDM
be also me; Adonis Valintellis (Tiefling Paladin), Thalia Milakos (Human Ranger) and Zaahir Kehmet (Earth Genasi Wizard)
the soldier stifled a yawn as he patrolled the sandy beaches of Kalikos
clouds hid the island from the moon’s spectral glow, casting the land into darkness and turning the often silver seas black as coal
his shift had been a long one and just as boring as expected
where once his mind had been sharp and alert, it now lingered on thoughts of a cold drink and a warm bed
his eyes scanned the shore superficially, passing over the same stones and grassy knolls he’d seen a hundred times before
on any other night, he may have noticed the discrepancies in the shoreline
the new rock that appeared almost boat-like on second glance
but alas, his mind was a thousand miles away, and the javelin hit him without warning
the soldier collapsed to his knees, gasping for air like a fish on land
his armour had spared him from the worst of the damage, but the javelin had done its job
stunned and winded, he was rendered defenceless against the four figures that emerged from the darkness
a thought crossed his mind to sound the alarm; but his limbs refused to move and his lungs pleaded for breath
one member of the pack split from the rest. A stout dwarf with a full beard and a grim expression
they approached the helpless man, drawing a sharply curved short sword from their belt
the soldier tried to move
tried to yell
but the dwarf closed the distance between them and cut his throat, putting a violent end to his struggles
wiping the blood clean from his weapon, Oryk hauled the body behind cover before jogging to catch up with his companions
the Order of the Twins moved like shadows in the night. Their passage muffled by the spells woven about their feet
that said, their infiltration still proved easier than expected
skirting the edges of the island, the party avoided common paths and watchful eyes; slipping between gaps in the meagre defences they encountered
their route took them just below the peak of the island; where a lavish home stared out across the ocean
in the distance, tiny twinkling lights just barely outlined the Athosi mainland
the house itself was lit up like a beacon in the night, and roaming globules of fire identified the few guards on rotation. Six or seven at most
less than a third of what they had anticipated
counting their blessings, the small band of adventurers navigated the narrow pathways around the house and approached the island’s southern side, where a lonely dirt road wound its way towards a grove of trees
they moved swiftly and silently through the long grass that grew on either side, but they needn’t have bothered
the road was unguarded, and the entrance to the grove lay bare
“this is too easy,” Cyrene whispered; fidgeting nervously with an iron band around her wrist. “Where are the rest of the guards?”
she, like the rest of her companions, had a dishevelled look to her appearance
a thinness to her features that implied more than a couple missed meals
Oryk shot her a stern look, and the half orc immediately shut her mouth
turning his gaze to the two half elves to his rear, he was answered with obedient silence
Maia had always been thin, but now she was practically gaunt
her eyes carried a weight, and an ugly scar split her lip on the left side
Iris, her sister, had once identified herself with long curly hair
now, it was cut short, and crudely so. As if done with an altogether uncaring hand
both twins wore the same iron band as Cyrene around their left wrist
a thin piece of metal that coiled around their limb like a snake
with a commanding wave of his hand, Oryk led the party through the grove’s northern entrance and into the trees beyond
moving like ghosts between the thin trunks and shallow underbrush, the group made good progress before they heard the sudden snap of a twig in the darkness
Oryk raised a fist and the advance came to an abrupt stop, scanning their surroundings with tense expressions
a series of soft whispers drifted between the trees, accompanied by the rustling of leaves and groaning of branches
the dwarven fighter drew his sica and his companions complied, unsheathing their weapons in response
they began to spot lithe, feminine figures peering out at them from behind the trees. Staring at the strangers with bright, emerald eyes
the women had skin like mottled bark, and hair that plumed about them like foliage
“dryads,” Cyrene declared, lowering her rhomphaia with the faintest hint of relief
Iris and Maia exchanged a look before lowering their own weapons, albeit keeping them close at hand
Oryk, however, raised his short sword threateningly, and pointed it at the nearest nature spirit
“get back in your trees and stay there. Interfere, and we will not hesitate to kill you”
the dryad in question retreated, but the others stood their ground as a frantic whispering filled the trees around them
something dangerous glimmered in Oryk’s eyes, and his fingers tightened around the hilt of his sica
“NOW!” he suddenly bellowed, his voice deep and commanding
the drayds scattered into the trees, leaving a myriad of foul curses and even fouler odours in their wake
Oryk gave a satisfied grunt and turned to leave, only to nearly walk into the dryad that now stood in his way
a spirit with speckled, ashy skin and a stern, stubborn expression
Oryk approached them with his weapon raised
“get out of my way,” he growled. “I won’t ask a third time”
the dryad stared down at him like a disapproving adult would a petulant child, and when it spoke, it did so with a voice like wind through a canopy
“if you were wise, you would return to your masters. You will not find what you seek here”
its eyes lifted to the party, as if directing its words to them
with a snarl, Oryk swiped at the dryad, only to be met by a cloud of pollen and stinging nettles
cursing aloud between bouts of frantic coughing, the dwarf fled the swarm and started rubbing his eyes, which had already begun streaming with tears
muttering under her breath, Cyrene approached his side and laid a hand on his shoulder
“come now, let me see”
lowering his hands to his side, Oryk turned to face her with a grimace, his eyes puffy and red
“Archons above, Oryk,” Cyrene cursed. “You should know better than to taunt a dryad”
as the words left her mouth, the band on her wrist suddenly tightened and the half orc gave a small yelp of pain
glaring at her through bloodshot eyes, Oryk gave the cleric a venomous look
“and you should know better than to speak out of line”
Cyrene’s hands fumbled at the metal around her wrist, refusing to meet the dwarf’s cruel gaze
the cuff continued to coil and squeeze; writhing like a living being as Cyrene frantically whispered a foreign chant beneath her breath
the words seemed to appease the magic item, and it loosened its grip in response
witnessing this cruel display of discipline, the twins began unconsciously massaging the band around their own wrists; as if reminiscing on a similar experience
shaking the pain from her arm, Cyrene set to work curing Oryk’s ailment, uttering a slew of healing spells
with his eyesight restored, Oryk sheathed his weapon and pushed past Cyrene, wandering into the trees
with little other choice other than to follow, the group set off after him
the party walked for some time before a sound other than buzzing insects and murmured curses reached their ears
a low, rumbling that echoed through the trees. Like a dull droning that came in ebbs and flows
once more the group came to a stop, and before Oryk could even turn to look towards the twins, they had already begun to move
creeping forward with the lightest of footsteps, Maia and Iris stealthily approached the sound, deftly avoiding any stray branches or betraying stones
the droning grew louder and louder, until the pair had stopped just shy of its source
peering around a trunk with sharp blue eyes, Maia scanned what lay ahead
the trees parted around an ancient oak, its roots deep and its branches tall
a hollow sat about half way up the trunk. A small opening just wide enough to put a hand or two inside
but the tree was not so interesting as what lay beneath
coiled around the trunk was a creature with a long, serpentine body
its scales, green and flecked with brown, were hard and interlocked like shields in a phalanx
its head, immense and filled with razor sharp teeth, lay curled just below the hollow of the tree
the low rumbling emanated from the monster’s chest, as it uttered a long, prolonged snore
Maia’s jaw tightened and her eyes flitted over to her sister
Iris’ face had gone pale, and her hand had instinctively dropped to grab at the empty sheath on her belt
a prize taken by their employer
the twins locked eyes, and shared a moment of profound fear
wetting her suddenly very dry lips, Maia gestured back towards the trees and Iris nodded in silent agreement
the two stealthily retreated, keeping their footsteps light all the way back to their comrades
Oryk almost jumped when the twins materialised beside him, emerging from the darkness without warning
“well?” he hissed, his voice rising above the droning snores. “What did you find?”
Iris frantically gestured for the dwarf to quiet down, as Maia shot a terrified glance back in the direction of the oak tree
only when they heard the low droning of the monster’s snores did the pair relax enough to answer
“dragon”
the word held in the air like a curse
Cyrene’s eyes widened, and had it not been for the band on her wrist, she most certainly would have uttered a prayer
even Oryk’s permanently affixed scowl faded as the blood drained from his face
when he finally spoke, he did so with no semblance of his usual condescension
“...how big?”
“8 meters,” Iris answered. “No more than 12”
Oryk nodded, his brow knitting together as he dropped into a crouch
“a juvenile,” he thought aloud. “Hasn’t reached full adulthood. Scorch marks?”
“none that we could see”
“good. Then either it’s too young to breathe fire, or it spits poison”
his eyes narrowed to points as he mulled things over in his head
the group kept quiet, forced to listen to the distant, droning snores as their leader considered their options
after a long stretch of time, Oryk took a sharp inhale and straightened his posture
“it’s asleep?”
his eyes shifted to Maia, and the half elf tensed
“we think so but…”
“we don’t know for certain,” Iris quickly interrupted. “We’ve never encountered a dragon before. We should call off the mission and come back more prepared”
a deadly silence fell over the group as the dwarf went still
“call off the mission?” he repeated
his voice was calm, but the words held a distinct edge to them
like the blade of a meticulously sharpened knife
“and since when did you make the calls in this party?”
Maia shot her sister a look, and Iris lowered her eyes
“never,” she answered
“that’s right. Never,” Oryk reiterated, holding the half elf in his steely gaze. “We do things my way, as we always have”
Iris’ clamped her mouth shut and the dwarvish fighter turned to look at his other companions
“unless you have all forgotten what awaits us if we fail? What will happen if we come back empty handed?”
he was met with silence and a slow shake of Cyrene’s head
“failure isn’t an option,” he continued. “If the drakon is asleep, we need to act now”
his gaze shifted to Maia
“so can you do what I need you to?”
the half elf swallowed and tried to slow her racing heartbeat
“I think so,” she meekly answered
“good. The rest of us will wait in position. We’ll flank the tree from three sides and-”
“-I’ll do it,” Iris suddenly interjected
Oryk’s teeth flashed in a grimace before he turned to face her
“I’ll retrieve the objective,” Iris clarified, meeting the dwarf’s gaze
“Maia is quieter,” Oryk bluntly retorted. “She stands a better chance of getting to the tree than you do”
“but with my magic-”
“-your magic that we need for the escape,” he interrupted. “We have a plan, stick to it”
he turned back to the front and began drawing out a rough plan in the dirt with his sica
“-while Maia sneaks in, we hold here to provide support. Once we have what we came for, we leave back through the northern exit”
Iris’ eye twitched, and Maia reached out to drop a hand on her sister’s arm
“Iris-” she quietly started
but her warning went unheeded, and Iris spoke up again
“what’s the point of saving my magic if we don’t get what we came for?” she argued
Oryk spun with a stormy expression, pointing his blade to her chest
“because I said so!” he snapped. “And you will do what you’re told!”
he may have stood half a head shorter than Iris, but in that moment, Oryk felt like a giant, and in the silence of the trees, his voice sounded like a clap of thunder
Iris’ face paled and Oryk realised what he had done
instinctively, the party held their breath; anticipating a monstrous roar, or the crash of falling trees
but after a few tense seconds, all they heard was the rhythmic rumbling of distant snores
the group letting out a collective sigh of relief that cut through the tension like a knife
tension that returned the moment Oryk opened his mouth
“do you want to be sent across the Chronaean?” he hissed. “Do you want to leave your sister alone?”
Iris’ eyes shifted to Cyrene, searching for some glimmer of support
instead, the half orc looked away, leaving the half elf to face their leader alone
“of course I don’t,” Iris mumbled
“exactly,” Oryk spat. “Stay in line, do what you’re told, and keep your mouth shut”
he turned to Maia with an expression that encouraged absolute obedience
“get the objective, and get out. Nod if you understand”
Maia gave a slight jerk of her head
“good. Now get moving”
the dwarf stormed off into the trees, and Cyrene quickly shot up to follow him
Maia and Iris exchanged a look of resignation before joining their trusted comrades

Maia stood in position by the edge of the clearing, mentally projecting her path to and from the hollow
it was a simple job, really
dart across the open ground
jump up to the low branch on the left side
climb over to the main trunk
grab the objective
and do it all again
simple
if it weren’t for the dragon in the way
Maia's heart began to pound in her chest until she felt a hand fall gently across her arm
she turned, meeting Iris' concerned gaze
“you don’t have to do this,” her sister whispered; practically breathing the words into Maia’s ear
“yes I do,” Maia answered, keeping her voice just as quiet. “You heard Oryk. We can’t go back empty handed”
“f*ck Oryk,” Iris cursed. “We’re only here because of him”
in spite of herself, a grim smile lifted the corner of Maia’s lips
it was a rare thing to hear Iris curse
“we could run, you know. Make a break for the mainland”
Maia’s smile dropped in an instant
“Iris, no”
“why not?” Iris replied earnestly. “We can make it. I know we can”
“they’ll catch us. And even if they don’t, what then? We’ve got nowhere to hide. No friends to help us. We’d be on our own”
“we’ve been alone before. We survived, didn’t we?”
Iris’ words were hopeful, but they couldn’t hide the desperation beneath
when Maia didn’t seem convinced, Iris took her sister’s face into her hands
“please don’t do this. I can’t lose you”
Maia’s eyes softened, and she placed her hands atop Iris’
“that’s why I have to do this”
she took a deep breath and tried to put on a half convincing smile
“you don’t have to worry about me. I’ve got this. I promise”
Iris’ thumb traced the scar across her sister’s lip
“I’m older. It’s my job to worry about you”
a frown fell across Maia’s face
“older by 10 minutes”
“and I’ll never let you forget it”
Iris pulled her sister into a tight hug
“don’t you dare get yourself caught”
“when have I ever?”
the two reluctantly parted, and Iris held her sister at an arm’s length
“remember. Once you have it-”
“-run like the Hounds of Chaon are after me”
a smile touched Iris’ lips, and the shadows rose up to swallow her
when they parted, the monk was gone
inhaling a slow, shaky breath, Maia composed herself, and refocused on the tree
30ft to the centre
branch on the left side
over the dragon
down to the hollow
reverse and get out
she exhaled slowly, letting the shake fade from her breath
she had this
Maia broke from the tree line, moving in a swift but stealthy manner
every step carefully laid. Every movement intentional
the dragon’s snores rumbled like thunder, growing louder with each step
before she knew it, she was beneath the low branch
taking a quick stutter step to gain momentum, she threw herself upwards, catching the branch with both hands
thankfully, the branch held firm, and Maia swung her legs up and around it
shimmying along inch by inch, she drew closer to the trunk itself, inadvertently holding her breath as she passed over the sleeping body of the dragon
its breath reeked up close. Like spoiled fruit and vinegar
it took all her strength not to gag
before she knew it, she was at the trunk of the tree and at the next step of her plan
hoisting herself up to a crouched position, she flattened her body against the side of the trunk and began sliding her foot along its length
eventually, she found a suitable foothold and began clambering across to a more central position
the hollow was just beneath her now
and beneath that, the massive head of the dragon
this close, she realised just how easily such a creature could snap her up
with her small frame, she’d be gone in one or two bites
pushing such morbid thoughts out of her mind, she leaned down until her head and arm were low enough to reach inside the hollow
her lungs were beginning to burn from holding her breath for so long, but she dared not exhale
she wasn't sure how good a dragon's senses were, but she wasn't keen to find out either
reaching her arm into the hollow, her fingers touched loose leaves and knotted wood
she pushed a little deeper, searching for any sign of her prize
something cold
something metal
but instead, she felt the hard back of the hollow
frowning, she pressed again, but still felt only the rear of the hollow
had she somehow missed it?
her fingers scrambled around, but continued to feel only wood and leaves
her lungs were really burning now, and she could feel her face flushing with colour from being upside down
regardless, she removed her arm and leaned her head down further, trying to peer inside
in the black gloom of a moonless night, a human wouldn’t have been able to see a thing
but even with her enhanced elvish sight, Maia was granted only the slightest advantage
just enough to make out the shape of the interior and the contents within
dried leaves
knotted wood
a couple insect husks
and nothing else
sure she had somehow made a mistake, she looked again and again
but with each scan, the truth became undeniable
“you will not find what you seek, here”
the dryad’s words echoed in Maia’s head, and with a cold sense of dread, she realised that the spirit hadn’t been speaking rhetorically
the amulet wasn’t here
and with that realisation, Maia’s lungs could hold on no longer
her breath escaped all at once, her awkward position driving the air out in an undignified huff
she clamped a hand over her mouth, but the damage had been done
she had made a sound, however small, and already her breath was mixing with the cool air
time slowed to a crawl as the dragon’s snores came to a stop
she watched in terror as its head, mere inches below her, began to stir
its nostrils flared; drawing breath with a deep, rasping inhale, and its eyes rolled in their sockets
the dragon’s jaws cracked open, revealing a black, forked tongue and rows of fetid teeth
rancid breath assaulted Maia’s senses, making her stomach turn and her head spin
she waited for the creature to open its eyes
to see the tiny morsel dangling helplessly above it
but they never did
to her greatest relief, the dragon remained asleep and blissfully unaware of her presence
relief swiftly turned to dismay, however, as the dragon proceeded to shift; its scales rippling like water across its long, serpentine body
the tree shook violently as the monster scraped against its surface, shearing away bark and causing branches to groan and sway
wrapping her arms around whatever she could find, Maia clung desperately as the shaking threatened to throw her loose
after what felt like an eternity, the vibrations mercifully ended, and the dragon returned to its snoring
but even after the tree had long fallen still, Maia found herself unable move; as if every single muscle in her body had frozen solid
in a moment of clarity, she realised that her hand had found her dagger in the chaos, and that the weapon was now clutched in an iron grip at her side
she almost laughed at the absurdity of the situation
as if a dagger would keep her safe if the dragon had actually awoken
nonetheless, she kept it in her hand, unwilling to relinquish the one defence she had
lifting her gaze to scan the surrounding treeline, she spotted the pale faces of her companions waiting in position. Intently following her progress with their eyes
Iris looked just as high sprung as she was. All but ready to throw herself into the open in order to save her sister
Maia silently prayed that her twin could keep her composure for just a little longer
wetting her incredibly dry lips, the rogue began scaling the tree; taking care to avoid any of the small twigs and leaves that had been shaken loose by the dragon’s shifting
upon reaching her chosen branch she paused, taking a moment to slow her racing heart beat
in spite of everything telling her otherwise, she needed to calm down
stress would lead to mistakes
and mistakes would lead to her death
feeling her muscles relax ever so slightly, Maia continued, stretching her body out to reach the low branch
her feet found purchase, and the rogue began creeping along its length
a few more steps and she’d be home free
“Maia!”
a single word
muffled and distorted, and yet agonisingly loud
Maia’s eyes dropped to the bronze surface of her dagger and saw a young woman’s face staring back at her, their eyes grey and piercing
there was a flash of familiarity in the half elf’s mind, but in that moment, she could barely recall her own name
a million thoughts raced through her mind as her heart pounded like a drum in her ears
one thought, however, screamed louder than the rest
run
Maia’s feet moved before the thought had even finished forming, propelling her from the branch a split second before it detonated into an explosion of jagged splinters
she hit the ground hard, feeling something give in her shoulder
she didn’t have time to dwell on it, as an earth shattering roar tore the world asunder
her feet were under her in an instant, and she broke into a sprint, not daring to look behind her
she knew that if she turned, all she would see is a flash of green scales and a mouth full of fangs closing in to end her life
the air began to reek of rotten fruit and then a body collided with her, throwing her aside
a cloud of noxious fumes ripped through the space she had just occupied, causing grass to shrivel and trees to wither
she felt hands on her arms and shoulders, and then Iris was yelling at her, hauling her to her feet amidst pained racking coughs
they didn’t have time to stop, barrelling through the trees in a mad dash to get away
as furious roars filled the air behind them, Iris stumbled through the underbrush, her legs unsteady beneath her
Maia looped an arm under her shoulder, and now the twins were supporting each other in a tangle of limbs
minutes passed. Or maybe just seconds. And then the two broke from the tree line onto an open road
sea winds rushed up to meet them, and Iris' legs fully gave out as she began greedily sucking in gasps of fresh air
“come on!” Maia urged, trying to drag her sister to her feet
but Iris was of no use now, her eyes bulging and her face flushed with colour
something ripped its way out of the underbrush and Maia turned sharply, instinctively raising the dagger that was still clutched in a death grip
instead of the dragon she was expecting, she found Cyrene and her rhomphaia, halfway through a cut that would have cleaved her in two
recognising each other at the same time, the pair lowered their weapons and turned to the wheezing half elf at their feet
concern flashing across her face, Cyrene dropped to her knees in preparation to cast a spell
before she could begin, however, Oryk emerged from the grove, blood splattered across his hands
“we don’t have time for that. Get her up!”
he raced past them, leading the charge back towards the beach
with a grunt of exertion, Cyrene lifted Iris into her arms like a baby, shoving her rhomphaia into Maia's hands
keeping a wary eye on her sister, Maia followed the half orc as she began jogging after their leader
as they ran, Oryk settled into pace beside Maia, shooting her a questioning look between grunts of breath
“do you have it?”
the half elf's shoulders fell, and she quietly shook her head
“it wasn’t there”
Oryk’s face turned a dark shade of red, and a vein bulged in his head
“what do you mean it wasn’t there?!”
“the amulet is gone. We missed it”
a stream of vile curses flowed from Oryk’s lips, and Maia wisely chose to keep her eyes forward and mouth shut
they reached the beach in record time, and Cyrene carefully laid Iris down into their waiting boat
as Oryk and Maia began pushing the vessel into the rolling surf, the dwarf gave her a hateful glare
“hells spare you when they find out we failed”
“we...haven’t...failed...yet”
Oryk turned his ire on Iris, who lay curled across the edge of the boat trying her best to suck in what air she could
“we...know...where...its...going,” she continued between strained, wheezing breaths. “We...still...have...time...”
leaping into the boat with a splash of water, Oryk waited just long enough for his companions to get in before heaving away with the oars
“we’d better. For all our sakes”
he sliced through the water with powerful strokes, driving them into deeper and darker waters
Maia slunk down beside Iris, taking her sister’s hand into her own
Iris dropped her head onto Maia’s shoulder, and the twins watched as the shores of Kalikos drifted further and further away

First Post: https://www.reddit.com/CradledDnDStories/comments/x8zwpv/athos_1_a_new_world_of_opportunity/
Last Post: https://www.reddit.com/CradledDnDStories/comments/1b2taqi/athos_35_mirror_mirro
Next Post:

I don’t know what to do about this. I don’t want to be angry, but I am. I have multiple different bone, muscle and ligament conditions and nerve damage in my legs because of that for context.
My sister lives two hours away for college and had our mom, dad, and myself drive down to her and pick her up because she get a pinched nerve in her back and couldn’t deal with it. This happened on Thursday, I had to try to find people to cover for me at work so I could take the day off to help my mom as she get extremely nervous on long car rides, I don’t drive at the moment and we had to bring my sisters car down with us.
But now she is staying in my room which is pretty normal for when she comes down but keeps getting out of the cot she has to stay in my bed all day, rearranging all the stuff I keep up there for when I have to sleep certain ways due to pain, get everyone to wait on her every need, take only one of the three pain med my parent went to my grandparents to get for her, and act like an over all baby about it.
All of that is annoying but the thing about this whole mess that makes me so mad is the fact that at times when my nerve pain was so bad I would keep my legs iced and bandaged to try and help with the feeling and got to the point I was crying in my bathroom at night while rubbing my legs so hard they bruised just to wear down the nerves enough for me to wrap them back up and go back to bed. Doing all this while still doing my physically demanding job and doing as many of the house hold chores as i could as we live on a farm and our mom had just gotten mouth surgery. She yelled at me many times about faking it and just not wanting to help out while I was home. Making sly comment about how i couldn't be in that much pain if i was still going to work when i love my job and it was one of the only escapes I had from the constant fighting with her.
I just want to scream at her for how small and worthless she made me feel while I felt like I was going to chop my legs off for even a bit of relief.
How do I stop myself when she is around me all the time and my mom says that its fine and we just need to give her time to heal and maybe she'll understand a bit more but I don't think it will. It didnt help my mom understand when she had to go to PT for her neck from and injury messing with a condition we did know she had. I was there to with a dislocated shoulder. But my mom got better and seemed to forget the pain had even been there by the time her PT was over.
This will change nothing. How do i not hate her? How do I try to forgive or forget when she's wailing about a sliver of the pain I go through? Am I a bad person for not feeling sympathy for her? Like she kinda disseveres it after some of the shit she's put me through. How do i feel better about this for myself when even looking at her makes me angry?
Sorry for the rant and mistake it’s 3:00am and I just can’t anymore.

I don’t know what to do about this. I don’t want to be angry, but I am. I have multiple different bone, muscle and ligament conditions and nerve damage in my legs because of that for context.
My sister lives two hours away for college and had our mom, dad, and myself drive down to her and pick her up because she get a pinched nerve in her back and couldn’t deal with it. This happened on Thursday, I had to try to find people to cover for me at work so I could take the day off to help my mom as she get extremely nervous on long car rides, I don’t drive at the moment and we had to bring my sisters car down with us.
But now she is staying in my room which is pretty normal for when she comes down but keeps getting out of the cot she has to stay in my bed all day, rearranging all the stuff I keep up there for when I have to sleep certain ways due to pain, get everyone to wait on her every need, take only one of the three pain med my parent went to my grandparents to get for her, and act like an over all baby about it.
All of that is annoying but the thing about this whole mess that makes me so mad is the fact that at times when my nerve pain was so bad I would keep my legs iced and bandaged to try and help with the feeling and got to the point I was crying in my bathroom at night while rubbing my legs so hard they bruised just to wear down the nerves enough for me to wrap them back up and go back to bed. Doing all this while still doing my physically demanding job and doing as many of the house hold chores as i could as we live on a farm and our mom had just gotten mouth surgery. She yelled at me many times about faking it and just not wanting to help out while I was home. Making sly comment about how i couldn't be in that much pain if i was still going to work when i love my job and it was one of the only escapes I had from the constant fighting with her.
I just want to scream at her for how small and worthless she made me feel while I felt like I was going to chop my legs off for even a bit of relief.
How do I stop myself when she is around me all the time and my mom says that its fine and we just need to give her time to heal and maybe she'll understand a bit more but I don't think it will. It didnt help my mom understand when she had to go to PT for her neck from and injury messing with a condition we did know she had. I was there to with a dislocated shoulder. But my mom got better and seemed to forget the pain had even been there by the time her PT was over.
This will change nothing. How do i not hate her? How do I try to forgive or forget when she's wailing about a sliver of the pain I go through? Am I a bad person for not feeling sympathy for her? Like she kinda disseveres it after some of the shit she's put me through. How do i feel better about this for myself when even looking at her makes me angry?
Sorry for the long ranty post and mistakes it's 3:00am and im on my phone.

Yeah imma put this in here for fun :)
Names/Titles:
Fumetsu, Bhairab Bēcaina, The Great Asura of Death and Destruction, The immortal, King of Hearts (named by the Perfected Army of Christ).
Age: 1100-200 years
Appearance:
A Sorcerer of unknown origin. His skin tone is a light tan. Despite being 300+ years old, he looks barely a day above 28. He has black short hair and wears a folded sleeved button up everywhere he goes, even in battle. The shirt is stained in blood and his own flesh. When seen by people he constantly looks covered in blood.
Personality:
Bhairab is considered highly sadistic, sociopathic, hedonistic and extremely selfish. He often has large episodes of vanity where he brags to his opponent about how many women and children he has killed. Additionally while he is not killing weak sorcerers and curse spirits he often spends time with his harem. He is also very cunning and manipulative. Capable of tricking even high level foreign Jujutsu agents into giving him valuable information.
Despite this he does have some sort of admiration of humanity. In one fight with an unknown sorcerer, he clearly stated that he is powerful because he can choose to kill. That the reason humans are superior to anything else is because they can choose to ignore their desires or not. He simply chose to follow Kenjaku because he believes that the world he’ll create would be interesting to live in.
Backstory:
A foreign Agent of Kenjaku and notorious curse user. He is considered a key part of his contingency plan if Kenjaku were to die fighting. Not much is known about his origins. Only that he awakened from the mountains as a child; alone. He didn't know how much time had passed, it was so cold that he couldn't feel anything, he could only see the gray sky and snow raining down on his face. He couldn’t even describe the color.
Moving his eyes around he could see two figures approaching him. Both were talking in some foreign language. Just as they were talking, the child had one thought in him, hunger. He tried to walk up to the figures but a snap in his leg was felt, resulting in him falling in front of the figures. They laid flat on the floor and left him. He raises his head up to look at the figures moving away. He still felt hopeful. Believing they would come but they never did. This happened every single time. As time passed more snow enveloped him to which he became invisible to anyone who passed through the mountain. Despite being unable to stand, he could at least hear the voices of those who would rest near him.
At first these were just more foreign voices, but he would eventually understand. He would understand people's conversations, descriptions and dying breaths. A thought would appear in mind as he was trapped in the snow. It said live. He woke up from the snow and proceeded to walk down the mountain. Despite the severe conditions he never wavered, when he spotted a climber. His thought was that he needed clothes so he grabbed the man and gouged his eyes out before stripping him naked and leaving him to die out in the cold. He continued forward until he stopped by a village gate.
The people looked at him with fear. All they said was Fumetsu when looking at him. He didn’t really care, only looking for a place to sleep in. It was when he was surrounded by town guards that he realized he wasn't welcomed here so he grabbed a guards spear and went to it. The result was a bloodbath. With the entire village destroyed in the process. That was the origin of the man that would try his hardest to destroy jujutsu society. Helping Kenjaku further his plot by infiltrating and weakening foreign barriers outside of japan. He is infamous for his ability in Jujutsu and being considered one of the greatest threats to the Perfected Army of Christ, Jagtånder and the Ainu Jujutsu Society. Having multiple encounters with all three of these organizations and repelling some of their smaller forces on some occasions. For each of these organizations, when it is believed that Fumetsu is dead, he seems to appear in a different location, always starting something.
Curse Technique:
The Precepts of Bhairab: The user's atoms are able to contain the user's consciousness. The user can manipulate their atoms with curse energy. This manipulation is not limited to converting elements, creating compounds or creating chemical reactions as long as it is his atoms that he manipulates. This allows the user the potential to manipulate their own body by the atomic level. They can also manipulate objects their body touches though this does take time at around 10 - 15 seconds.
Extension Techniques:
Precept of Protection:
Fumetsu condenses the atoms that compose his skin. Hardening his skin in the process. This makes him highly resilient but reduces his mobility.
Precept of Life:
Fumetsu focuses all his curse energy to multiply his atoms and fully regenerate himself in 3 seconds. Any sort of damage that is done to his body can be fully healed, as long as he has curse energy.
Precept of Insight:
Fumetsu turns any sort of converted material around him into highly complex organs such as eyes, ears, limbs and more. Allowing him to either have extrasensory perception, a better physical constitution or an increased output of curse energy.
Precept of Preparation:
Fumetsu forms any of his converted atoms in nitroglycerin and heats them, leaving only so much to be used as projectiles. Basically creating a pipe bomb out of his flesh. Any projectiles that manage to hit the opponent will slowly begin to convert them. If not removed (Either via amputation or RCT) or reinforced with CE in the next 15 seconds Fumetsu can control and manipulate their bodies.
Precept of Feigned Humility:
A full reworking of his body to create a biological masterpiece for sorcery. Has eyes now on his arms and back. His back muscles constantly contort to produce hand signs and he has mouths on his palms and right chest constantly chanting curses. His perception has greatly increased as he now has a full 360 degree vision and senses even the small vibrations in the air. All his physical attributes have also increased by 250%. However his most notable feature is his increase in CE output by 180%.
Maximum Technique, Broken Precept of Destruction:
By slowly converting the air around him he can create a hydrogen blast that is shown to decimate entire cities. Requires around 2-5 minutes to charge up.
Weakness:

• Curse Energy reinforcement is often effective against being assimilated into him.
• Is killable during curse technique burnout.
• Advanced Reverse Curse Technique can reverse the assimilation.

Binding Vows:
Undying Domain: Through not only forfeiting the barrier but also reducing the radius of the domain’s radius to 3 metres and making it so that the domain is unable to overwhelm anyone elses his domain’s sure hit effects will still be ongoing. This is shown especially during domain clashes. Where the opponent's domain’s effect is cancelled but the user's domain sure hit is still in place. Meaning that if the opponent tries to approach the user in spite of any other external conditions they will now be under the sure hit effect.
Domain Expansion, Eighth Precept of Bhairab: Beautiful Naraka of the Asura
This domain initially depicts several buddhist statues accompanying a black barrier with Fumetsu at the center. Sorcerers are often fooled into believing that he is simply casting a curtain as Fumetsu often says the incantation in a foreign language. When anything is within the domain their atoms are instantly converted to Fumetsu’s atoms, making them susceptible to his manipulation.
The current undying domain does not have this. Instead it is a pure atomisation field destroying anything that comes within a 3 meter radius.

I (23 FTM) have multiple chronic illnesses, both physical and mental, that prevent me from really doing anything. When I’m not having panic attacks, I’m having horrible muscle spasms or my back is in so much pain that my legs give out. I either forget to take care of myself, or when I remember, I don’t have the physical and/or mental capacity to complete the most basic tasks. I rely on my fiancé to assist me with everything as my family, whom we are living with, doesn’t think I need the support. On top of helping me bathe, getting me something to eat, or reminding me to use the bathroom, my fiancé works full time. The entire time he is at work I am stuck in the same spot most of the day until he gets home. As a result he is constantly exhausted with no time to himself, and has a very minimal social life.
I’m too disabled to work, but not disabled enough for assistance. I’ve been denied three times. I have no insurance currently as we can’t afford it. I’m supposed to be going to free clinics in my town for both medical and mental health, but the medical clinic closed down, which stopped me from getting my meds. No more meds, I can’t leave the house, as I was already having a hard time going out while taking them. My therapist kept canceling and missing our zoom appointments and I had to find out two days before my last scheduled appointment that I had to have an earnings statement from the DoL to continue seeing her. I can only get this done in person.
It’s been two months, I’m unsure how I’m supposed to get anything done when my fiancé is only off on one weekday, I have massive panic attacks just stepping on the porch, and I can’t walk for more than like two minutes. I need more support than he can give and neither of us know what to do. Does anyone else know what we should do?

How I keep weight on me and do back-to-back fasting?
When I do back-to-back extended fasts I go into a fasted state into a feasting state. I rapidly gain weight back from water weight, body density, muscle strength, etc. I break the fasts in different ways. Though, I prefer to break it healthy or with fruits or vegetables. Sometimes I break it with conventional foods like snacks or a microwavable vegan meal. It also depends on the fast as well. If it was a pure dry fast the whole way through then I'm breaking mostly on fruits then later some vegetables. I find it easy to gain weight back. I tend to feast on different foods. A lot of vegetables with some favorite snack foods like chips and one carby meal. Along with more snack foods like packages of cashews and some sweet snacks with not too much sugar in them.
Then my feasting window may go longer than I would like it. Then I'll move to eating pizza and plant-based burgers, potato wedges etc. So, just a lot of carbs and snacks.
The snacks really add a lot of calories very quickly. At the moment I am probably around 184lbs. After ended those back to back fasts I was probably about 181lbs. Before the start of those fasts I estimated I weighed around 195lbs. During the breaks and refeed periods I get back to working out. Full body workouts, machines weights and leg workout and cardio at the track. Carbs plus working out adds a lot of weight rapidly. Usually, after working out I start eating and I eat all night long. I'm eating something once I finish the meal, I am then snacking for the rest of the night. Along with lots of water. That adds a lot of water weight as well. All of which comes off in the first 2 days of the next fast.
Now, doing back-to-back extended fastings ultimately is reducing my weight as my overall net fat loss continues to trend downward despite feasting on refeeds. Because it's a lot of fasting. More fasting then eating basically. According to a friend 145lbs would be my weight at very low body fat percentage at 3-4% body fat levels. So, with that figure I can estimate I'm carrying about 40lbs of fat including water weight and body density, food contents. Without the dramatic weight loss in the beginning of the fast then probably around 25lbs of pure fat at this very moment. Although, at this moment my goal is not to keep lots of weight on me. I will allow my weight to trend downward to a normal body weight of 170lbs. If I wanted to keep weight then eating and feasting a lot more on carbs would do it.
How I maintained weight by living off almost exclusively an 80-90% vegetable diet along with back-to-back dry fasting for nearly an entire year of 2018?
I lived on this diet for nearly 3 years from 2017-2020. Yes, this diet really has a lot of benefits. First, there were no messy bowel movements. There was no smell. No stinky smell. Nothing. It's a diet filled with a lot of fiber. And there's very little concentration of any macronutrients. I received a lot of some nutrients but, it was slow absorption because of the large amount of fiber in the diet. I allowed myself to eat only 10g of sugar in a snack food. I barely had any conventional sugar. Sometimes, wheat bread or some variation of breads I ate outside of eating vegetables. That was as worst as my diet was during those 3 years. No meats. No cheese, no dairy, no eggs. Just vegetabes with a small amount of fruit. These vegetable mostly consisted of steamed or boiled cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and carrots, potatoes. Leafy greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, pickles, olives, string beans and salads with no sauces. Every now and then I might eat a very expensive small personal vegan pizza made out of cauliflower, vegan cheese and vegetables.
With a diet like that you would think it would be hard to maintain weight. Initially, I lost weight. Once I reached around 170-175lbs in back to back fastings. During my eating I normally feasted a few hours a day on these foods. I counted the calories and I always reached 2000 or more calories in eating. During two back to back water fasts is where I lost most of my weight from 195lbs to 178lbs. The water fasts were 13 days then followed by a 9 day fast.
Every other fasts were hard and soft dry. I was doing on average 2 extended dry fasts a month of 5-9 days then followed by 5-9 days of eating during the whole year of 2018. I feasted as much as I could every day. I probably gained 2-3lbs or more fat back.
With that diet there was very little detoxing during the first 7 days. Most of life just felt physically normal in the first 6 days of dry fasting. My body was highly adapted to it and it was as easy as driving. I never struggled with any detox, pain symptoms, fatigue, withdrawal effects. nothing. Only going to 7 days did I began to release a lot of toxins and things started dying when hitting that wall. The second crises. I never really broke through it.
I eventually reached around 168 - 170lbs. Like I said, your weight eventually trends downward with all of the fasting even though I feasted on buffets of foods. If you're naturally underweight then you would probably want to add a lot of water weight on a healthy diet or a conventional healthy carb diet through feasting. Along with weight training adding muscle seems to traps more weight on the body as well. Most people deal with being overweight in that case stick to high water content vegetables, workouts and 1 carb meal along with an abundance of vegetables and water to refeed in back to back extended dry fasts.

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Just felt a (likely) bone spur dislodge from my right hip (33F-bilateral total arthroplasty and iliospoas tendon release surgery, right leg). Nearly six years to the date today, I have been in some form of crippling pain, having trained for a 10k-had left total hip arthroplasty in 2016, left in 2019, and an iliopsoas tendon release on the right in 2023. Did 3 rounds of PT throughout 2029-2023.
I have RA, a connective tissue disease, attacking an injured connective tissue overlying my hip; thus, the constant inflammation creates an environment for bone spurs (which I’ve had prior to my tendon release surgery).
Following some advice on the hips subreddit, I decidedly randomly today to consciously activate the muscle opposing the psoas (glute)-I felt a pop at the “back end” and the “hip end” of my psoas muscle followed by nearly instant relief and mobility I hadn’t had in SIX YEARS.
I will add that leading up to today, over the past six weeks, I have done (2) hyperbaric oxygen therapy sessions; six sports massage sessions; foam rolling; and “Thera-Gun-ing” (due to a recent move with lots of physical demands on my body). I’ve also used Gua-sha and manual self-massage of my hip to break up scar tissue.
I say all this as many practitioners don’t emphasize these options (if standard PT and conservative treatments don’t help after a major procedure / surgery). Yet, I found MASSIVE relief and mobility, six years later, greatly accelerated once I started massage-related techniques. I’m just so grateful, as I thought I would never get better; I want others to know that they can, too. Don’t give up-you don’t have to settle for miserable!
—
Disclaimer-not a doctor or physician; just a millennial with a lot of early onset degenerative joint disease from having competed internationally in Sport Taekwondo.

So since January I started experiencing awful visual issues, I had an MRI, CT & blood work & all came back clear, since then I started developing twitching after taking amitriptyline and I just assumed it was a withdrawal or simply BFS. In 2/3 months I have had muscle atrophy in my back, thighs, calves and I’m certain my tongue has became weaker and so has my neck - I have no swallowing issues but my swallowing feels odd and my speech perceived by myself feels slow and not right at all.
I have seen countless neurologists in this time and they have all sent me back with a clean bill of health even though I have had 1 EMG which showed ‘chronic neuropathic changes mainly distantly’ and therefore a Neuromusculur neurologist diagnosed me with bfs & anxiety.
I know for a fact I have probably one of the worst progressive types of ALS you could get especially at such a young age - the atrophy was noticed by an NHS doctor who has sent me for another EMG in 3 months? But I have a private EMG on the 16th of this month. I’m absolutely terrified I have no understanding to how this could of happened, if all started after I took some mirtazapine to help with insomnia and I believe this has triggered something although there is 0 literature of this ever occurring and that’s why I can’t believe this happening to me.
I’m here to see reassurance even though I’m certain I’m dying and loosing everything so rapidly - I believe I have JALS or bulbar onset due to the changes in my face & throat etc… the one thing I can’t understand is how multiple parts of my body seem to be loosing muscle at the same time, I have read that ALS starts in one and moves up to the next etc but for me it seems like it’s everywhere.
I don’t know to be honest I don’t really know I didn’t want to post this at all but I just maybe might find someone on here that is experiencing disgusting symptoms, had a bag EMG and still came out the other side. I don’t believe I will, my family & girlfriend currently think I’m completely fine due to the reassurance from all the doctors and even the Neurologist who read the EMG still diagnosed me with BFS?
The EMG was on 2nd of April and at that point I knew my legs were smaller but it wasn’t extremely extremely noticeable - the EMG had no active neuropathic changes as PSW and FIBS were normal, it was just + AMP, + DUR and - INT PAT with seen fasiculations.
Overall I’m lost and i know it’s known that vision isn’t affected by ALS but I read reports and I legit match the symptoms such as reduced eye tracking, impaired VOR. I just feel like the most unlucky person on this planet like how can I have all these visual symptoms and horrible physical symptoms at such a young age just after taking some anti depressants to helps with insomnia.
I really need some support guys and I want to truly believe I’ll be okay but as of right now nothing can sway my mind and I’m dreading the 16th for what it will show, I’m going to honestly just walk in and say ‘I believe I have bulbar onset als just please start on my face and work your way down’
I just can’t believe that I’m completely fine when everything in my body is changing and has changed so quickly. I can still ride my bike, I can still run, walk fine and do any activity I want. (Other than football probably because of my vision) but I can’t do them well. I used to be able to run 5k without any aches in my body but now my feet hurt and so do my legs and I’m just a complete mess.
Much love and I hope people on this forum can comfort me with reassurance :(

Hey everyone,
I wanted to share how I personally managed to overcome FQAD (or at least the worst part of it, lets hope to not relapse). I’m not quite at 100%, but I’m somewhere in the 95-99% range, depending on whether it’s a good or bad day. Initially, I experienced tendon and muscle issues all over my body—from my feet to my neck. I dealt with some minor fatigue, twitching, and cracking. It took me around 600 days, including at least 500 PT/rehab sessions, to reach this point.
I still take quite a few supplements, but they’ve helped me maintain that 95% level. If I stop taking them for a while, I notice a decline. Here’s what’s been working for me:

• Magnesium Complex: I take 4x250mg daily (a mix of glycinate, malate, and citrate).
• Boron: 6mg.
• Vitamin D3: I measure my levels, and 20,000 IU is what I need.
• PQQ: 20mg.
• Liposomal Vitamin C: 4x500mg.
• Ascorbic Acid Vitamin C: 4x1000mg.
• Tudca: 2x600mg.
• Multi Mineral: 100% RDA.
• B Vitamins: 2 servings (each ~300% RDA).
• Thiamin HCL: 4x500mg.
• Benfothiamin: 4x300mg.
• Pro Resolving Mediators: 300mcg

Other strategies that worked for me:

1. Rehab: This had the biggest impact alongside time. Over 500 rehab sessions, I gradually loaded my tendons, allowing me to regain normalcy. I can lift, hike, cycle, do chores, and work. I could even run, but I’m not a fan. I’ll continue with rehab, transitioning to normal training over time. I even made a special instagram account for my rehab progress, it also contains some information how to start if someone wants on their own, that link is in my profile here in reddit
2. Time: The 19 months of being floxed played a significant role in my recovery.
3. Fasting/Caloric Deficit: Initially, fasting caused flare-ups, but now it’s fine. The caloric deficit during fasting likely triggers autophagy, including mitophagy.
4. Breathing exercises: I do Wim Hof Breathing, Box Breathing, and the Physiological Sigh from Hubberman throughout the day.
5. Near Infrared Therapy: Once I found the right dosage, it noticeably sped up my leg recovery. (my dosage is quiet low, its currently like 1,3j/cm2 and still gradually adding more slowly slowly)
6. Heat and Cold Exposure: I exposed myself to both heat and cold, which helps with mitochondria biogenesis.
7. Social Interaction: Having supportive friends, especially my wife, made a huge difference but also finding other floxies who shared the same mindset about doing something about it
8. Supplements: I’ve tried many, but the ones listed above have been the most beneficial.

Final Thoughts:
I might be luckier than others in terms of how hard I was floxed, but who really knows? I credit my recovery to a combination of factors: antioxidants, magnesium, persistence in rehab, and the realization that I had to save myself. There’s no magic cure; it’s a process. Once I shifted my mindset, I made progress. It’s not just mental—it’s action.

Hi, I'm hoping someone can help me out with advice. I've been having this issue with my legs (and my left side at times) since last year in July. I haven't figured out what is causing it and how to treat it. I feel like this all started through weight lifting. I stopped weight lifting because I started having left hip pain after a leg day one day. After that, things slowly got worse, and I haven't returned back to the gym since. Other than my PCP, I have seen an orthopedic (hip), spinal specialist, and neurologist about the issue.
Symptoms- chronic, but worsens after sitting, standing, or walking for a prolonged period or doing so regularly

• Sitting- glutes may hurt; have to push myself up from chair to stand if start feeling stiff
  
• Standing- legs get tired; they don't fully give out but get weaker, left foot may feel heavy and deadish; numbness on left side moves upwards from foot to face if I keep standing for too long
  
• Walking- walk slowly with small baby steps and a gait; left leg feels like it's harder to lift sometimes and it's lagging behind, especially after going up the stairs; left foot may feel heavy and deadish; numbness on left side moves upwards from foot to face if I keep walking for too long
  
• Lying Down- glutes may hurt
  
• Other- tingling; waistband from underwear feels too tight (I have to wear underwear with a loose elastic waistband and leg holes); at one point, I couldn't wear any underwear or pants at all because it was too painful and I could barely poop that day too (not constipated but pelvic muscles seem to not work properly)
  

Imaging Done - MRIs w/ Contrast, Brain; Cervical, Thoracic, and Lumbar Spine - X-Rays- Pelvis/Hips - Ultrasound- Pelvic; Legs/Feet (Bilateral Lower Extremity Arterial Doppler)
Blood Tests Done - ANA- Negative for autoimmune disease - Rheumatoid Factor- Negative
Diagnosis/ Findings - Hip bursitis (temporary, has passed) - Degenerative Disk Disease (mild to moderate) - A few minor bulging and herniated disks (not reaching main nerve in spine) - Mild scoliosis in the cervical/thoracic regions of the spine - Possible OA of SI Joints (not official) - Past Disgnosis- Mild OA of right knee
The hip orthopedic gave me a list of stretches and exercises for hip bursitis. The stretches helped, but strengthening exercises worsened neurological-like symptoms. Hip bursitis is gone now though. The neurologist I saw discussed my brain and cervical MRI results over the phone but hung up quickly after. I was left wondering what to do. I went to a spinal specialist after. They looked at the rest of my spine and said all they can do is send me to a pain specialist. My issue is more about functionality than it is about pain, so I respectfully declined. I will be seeing a new neurologist, but I'm afraid they will tell me that there is nothing they can do too.
Am I wasting my time seeing another neurologist? I don't know what to do or who to turn to anymore. Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I'm 20 y/o female and have been struggling with neurological issues for about a year now. . I have had and brain and spine mri which came back clean aside from one tiny spot which I told is probably a scar type thing. . The problem is I have gotten significantly worse since this mri in January so I'm worried it was actually the beginning of something malicious. . I have so pretty bad lower body coordination issues and often have to stumble around my house I can feel my legs for the most part and only experience mild sensory disturbances. . Muscle twitching or myclonic jerks like when you fall asleep but it's near constant and I will have periods of little to not twitching but when it's happening it's constant and not in just one are although it's mostly in limbs and torsos so not in the normal areas like eyes (although I do get twitching in my ears too) . I had an emg beginning of January upper body only and it showed mild I mean the mildest of mild bilateral carpal tunnel. . Severe fatigue and word retrieval issues. . Balance problems I haven't been completely falling but I will stumble and have to catch myself I'm not tripping it's more like toppling and its worse when I'm still but when I walk my right foot occasionally catches the ground but I have severely tight calves and my feet barley go to 90° I night brace or try to atleast. . Tremors and shaking are also a molar problem with my arms and legs . Issues with constipation and urinary problems aswell which could be unrelated but who knows. . My maternal grandmother had multiple sclerosis and I think I carry the gene for hurler syndrome (carrier obviously) my mom's sister had it. I also had extensive vestibular and opthamaolgy testing and it was found I have central vestibulopathy and I also have a tic disorder (mostly motor) and hEDS+ . I'm supposed to have a repeat mri on the 28th and perhaps another emg per my neuro. But I need reassurance or something until then

hi all,
i’m feeling very lost and stuck in my “recovery” that seems to never end :( i had an ACL reconstruction done in 2017, which had gone well and the graft has remained intact this whole time but i have a huge chronic pain issue. during or after any sort of exercise my operated leg cramps extremely intensely and goes into a position where i cannot bend or extend it. it is incredibly debilitating and effects almost ever aspect of my life. i have seen many specialists, doctors, and PTs for this which and have gone through countless treatments i’ve the years. it has definitely improved but not to the point where it is not debilitating or horrible. the common opinion i hear is that certain muscles like my quads or hamstrings are tight/weak therefore are causing too much stress on the muscles below it to react in the way it has. i have been doing intense and gentle strengthening, stretching, etc. for YEARS now. i don’t value their opinions as much as i used to now.
today i had a consultation with a new ortho surgeon who had told me that after assessing my ROM and movement, he cannot explain why i experience these flare ups. he has agreed to perform an arthroscopy to go in for a clean up but he says it should not be a scar tissue problem because scarring issues are linear in terms of pain. he says i wouldn’t be having good and then bad days if it were related to scar tissue or my ROM. i have decided to go for it just on the off chance that we find something in there we might not have caught before. but he told me if i proceed with this decision i shouldn’t expect for the flare ups to vanish.
i haven’t done what i’ve loved for years. i never got to be a part of sports teams or clubs. i had to spend a lot of days in bed due to not being able to walk or move when in a bad flare up. i don’t know what to do. i’m hoping someone may have a new idea or potential explanation. if not then i thank you for at least giving me a space to express myself!

I've been following an Arnold split for awhile, which seems to be what I prefer, and what works best for me (6 days/week). I love this split because of the pumps, and the intensity, but I need better advice on organizing each exercise, like how to maximize muscle hypertrophy and minimize muscle fatigue and overuse between each exercise. I typically stay around 3 sets per exercise, ranging from 6 - 15 reps depending on weight, intensity, or if I'm warming up, and I take around a 3 minute rest between sets. Anyway, I hear people talk about how it isn't best to be doing so many exercises that hit the same muscle group, without spacing them out enough. I'm not entirely sure what I need to do to revise my current split, which I'll list:
Monday - Chest & Back
Tuesday - Arms & Shoulders
Wednesday - Legs
Repeat
Sunday - Rest
Also, I need a little advice on which exercises to do for each day, I've just moved to a new, larger gym (not huge) with a little more diversity in terms of machinery. If y'all could list some great, more common exercises I need to include in my lifts, + the specific order they need to be done in to minimize fatigue and increase gains, that would be greatly appreciated. Any other advice helps too 👍

I honestly like workouts where I get to choose, and have a choice in what I do. I usually plan them the day before according to what was sore the last session.
Basically, I choose 1-3 big compound lifts, and do 3-4 sets. Then, I build it from there by adding some isolation and stuff. Sometimes I plan the whole thing beforehand, sometimes I go with the flow and just do what my body feels good doing. For example, deadlifting felt weak as hell today, so I did lighter BB RDLs to hit the muscle in a different way that my body felt better doing.
Here's what ended up happening today for the workout, this one was relatively unplanned:
Workout (this includes actual notes from my workout journal) •Deadlift (135x8, 225x5, 315x3) 》Stopped after 315, although my 1rm should be 420, even 315 felt weak as hell today, so I stopped in the midst of the warmup. •BB RDL (135x10, 185x8, 185x8. Next time I plan to try 200 because this felt do-able) •BB Row (135x8, 155x5, 155x3)
Superset: •BB Press: 85lbsx9, 95lbsx4, 95lbsx3 (I'm weak on this lift because I don't often do it, I usually do more dips and pull-ups for my upper body) •Chinups: 8, 4, 2½, 3
Core: •2 sets of Attempted Planche Tucks. •Decline Crunches: 45lbsx20, (use heavier weight, like 65. 65x15, 65x15)
I didn't do any cardio.
Note: I do track my lifts and reps, and I also write down my workout logs. Took 1.5 minutes of rest.
The issue is, there needs to be more cardio. I guess going on a walk on the off days would be alright, or just everyday as I usually walk around to music, my cardio isn't horrendous. Though sometimes when I sleep badly and stuff I do feel winded. I think this is more due to fatigue than being cardiovascularly done.
I need to recover better tbh, I need to sleep.
Anyway, part of me wants to be able to run at least a mile and a half in like 12 minutes because I am considering seeing about the USAF (National Guard) after community College and I wanna make sure my running is locked in, I can already do the sit-ups and push-ups in the alloted time though I could stand to improve at those as well (wish I had someone to compete with for reps). I'd probably just start with a 10 minute light jog before the workout as a requirement, but I'm afraid that'd take away from my strength, but... well, they don't care about strength.
Also, I have trouble getting enough calories lately so I don't want to burn more with intense running and make it even more of a hassle for myself. It's ironic, I gained 15-20lbs in college, we'll call it the "accidental bulk" as I ate relatively healthfully but every 2 hours, lots of protein, but made mistakes when I gained the ability to drive (which seems to have actually kinda worked for adding some muscle to my frame) and then I cut it quickly. Now I'm eating maintenance. (I'm tracking my macros now to prevent anymore things like that, but I doubt it'll happen again at least for the time being because my appetite stabilized. Also, my maintenance is very high due to the physical activity I get so no need to worry about my health that much, probably.)
Anyway, I don't really know what my goals should be: •Just get stronger and try to nourish my body well, and be a fit young man. I mean, I could do this and totally just see what happens. Hell, maybe in like 10 years my physique will look amazing, or maybe I'll just look fit.) •Try to get shredded and get a six pack. (I kinda have one anyway but I have to flex my core muscles for it to be seen due to a tiny layer of fat over it, but I also kind of don't mind due to the previous goal. I could always do that in a few years when I'm more built up and less confused.) •Bulk and build more muscle. •Try to increase my endurance in calisthenics and running to see if I should actually be in the air force.
Man, I also have so many questions and confusion on goals and the first one just seems the most simple and attainable. Also, I'd be attempting to eat maintenance during that and adjusting it to my activity. (IE: I go back to Community College and move less, so I calculate my maintenance for less calories. That, or I could just keep eating the same and bulk on less activity while still training, I just have so many ideas!)
As you can see, my head is in like 20 different places and I have no idea what to do. Having someone to train me might not be a terrible idea because then I'd have some of this managed for me instead of trying to do it myself, but I don't know if I really need one.
I don't exactly know what to do. Someone recommended me to just keep training for strength and listening to my body because it seems to be the best. But part of me wants to look more asthetic, or something else.
I do actually enjoy at home bodyweight workouts but I use a weighted backpack, not just my pure bodyweight. I really have considered doing more bodyweight stuff for upper body training due to the simplicity of it. Like: weighted/unweighted pull-ups, banded push-ups, dips, chinups, archer pull-ups, core exercises, etc.
Maybe something super simplistic: Leg Day •BB Squats •Nordic Hamstring Curls •Core exercises (I know you're supposed to progressively overload these)
Optional: •Lunges or cossack squats for single leg work. (Cossacks would be good for hip mobility)
Upper Body •Dips and Pull-ups •Core exercises
I don't know, sorry about endlessly ranting. But, anyway, I do think the first goal is good because if I really try at it, I could probably transition to one of the other goals when I gain more of an idea of what I want to do. I'm too young to really know fully what I want, anyway. Also, what about the routine?
I feel like I actually have a lot of knowledge but need more direction, which... sounds like me.

Tl;dr at the bottom of the post
I am 35M. I used to be skinny fat. Skinny arms, legs but most fat on my belly and face.
Over the last 6 months, I have been running, working out and being on a healthy diet. I w-/ able to go from 23-24% to around 15% body fat percentage. My goal is to develop a defined set of six packs before the summer by continuing to exercise and lower my body fat percentage to 10-11%. Currently, my body became more toned but I still do not have a defined set of abs with a blob of fat surrounding my lower abs.
Recently however, I have become devastated as my family and peers have told me that I became so skinny and that my face looks more wrinkly and older, as if I have some sort of an illness. I still have about 4% body fat percentage to lose to reach my goal but I am afraid my face will look much wrinklier and older.
When I searched the web, some sources say that losing too much weight in a short period of time might cause excess skin on the face look wrinkly, but it will take time for your skin to shrink and your face would look less older.
Others have said runners use sunscreen to protect skin damage which makes you look less wrinkly, which I agree. Over the last 6 months, I don’t think I had tons of sun exposure as my area tends to be cloudy and rain. But now summer is approaching and with sun coming out more, I am planning to apply more sunscreen during my outdoor runs.
Some say once I gain more muscle mass while staying at low body fat percentage, my face will look a bit less skinnier and therefore will look less older. But I don’t understand how this would work and whether it is true.
I wanted to ask if anyone else with similar experiences could share their journey and what they did to overcome their “fat deprived wrinkly face”?
Tl;dr As a 35M, I lost a lot of weight too quickly and my face now is wrinkly and looks older. Any way to make my face look less older without increasing body fat percentage?

I'm curious to talk to some fellow depraved weirdos out there who might enjoy the thoughts that keep rattling around in my head, but I couldn't quite come up with a punchy title or a fun setting so I figured I might try something more conversational in style. Like a kind of stream of consciousness style exploration into my own fantasies to see if anyone else out there is picking up what I'm putting down. So, hope you enjoy whatever it is that I've written below this sentence and shoot me a message if you're interested in chatting or writing something together to get us off as hard as possible.
I've been fantasizing all day about having a girl out there, a counterpart to myself that understands the most twisted and confused parts of my own identity. Who can understand the way that emotional and intellectual intimacy and honesty is so hardwired into what I find sexually attractive that it's inextricable - my kinks are not fleeting desires. They are parts of myself that scream out to be seen, embraced, loved that have gone unaddressed or otherwise unnoticed. I don't know if I'm a Dom, a sub, a switch, a vers, I don't have that name for myself - I only know what it is that I want, which is this.
I want to have someone who feels like they could just melt into me, to become a singular entity where we share each and every thought and feeling, synapses and muscles and rhythms of our body echoing each other in a way where there are no needs that exist outside of our connection. Obviously we'll need food and water and a break from the kind of intensity that I'm talking about, but I want the entire world to fall away while I'm jackhammering my cock into your pussy or asshole. I want your entire being to focus down to a pinpoint where you can feel my hot breath on your neck, words pouring out from my mouth like so much unfocused poetry while I'm fixated on the way that your muscles clench and massage my shaft. The way I can feel your soaked wetness coat our thighs, run in small rivulets down your asscrack while I pin your legs back by your head and fuck you until the bedframe beneath us breaks. I want the sound of our hips slamming wetly together to be so loud that neighbors next door think someone is being beaten, to bruise your cervix or plunge my cock so deep into your ass that I push into your colon. If we were to switch positions and have you climb on top of me, straddle me and look down at me with hungry eyes - fucking impale your hole onto me. Throw yourself down as if your life depended upon it, that my aching length filling you is the ultimate purpose that you'll fulfill in this lifetime and any others.
I don't care if you just got back from a long run or haven't shaved this week, all I know is when you walk in that front door of our house and I feel my eyes devour your body, I am filled with an uncontrollable, animalistic lust. I don't want to just fuck you - I want to worship, own, desecrate, build you up and break you down in your own perfectly flawed self image. I don't intend to change you into anything that you weren't meant to be, you've just finally found the person that sees what you are deep down inside and will help you to achieve that end. In that way, I fully expect to spend my days immersed in experiencing you - burying my face in your pheromone filled creamy pussy, letting my tongue and lips explore your curves and folds and memorize every single mole, freckle, unique mark that denotes this body your beautiful soul pilots as yours. I want to explore every inch of you with all five senses, to know how you smell as I bury my face in your ass first thing in the morning and dip my tongue inside your pussy, my nose pressed up against your puckered hole.

TLDR: Where does power start from? momentum of the free leg? by flicking the hip muscle? or shoulders? Does it have the same mechanism as this off ice?
I've got a pretty solid and consistent waltz and salchow(have more than enough height). What I only do is twist my hips midair, then use the free leg to gain the momentum to follow the turn. As I was attempting axels and doubles, I seemed to have a tough time going past 1 rev mid air. Can someone explain in detail? (E.g: twist shoulders but lock using hips, only use foot momentum to follow). Thank you so much in advance!