DeDeism.
When Shifts Arrive,
There's a Time to Have Fun.

But here is where DeDe flips the script. While I keep that same psychotic emphasis on intensity, I take the exact opposite route with frequency. Instead of resting for days on end between sessions, I max out using the 2-set method. By turning up consistently, I accumulate 10 to 15 brutal, high-quality sets per week for the entire full body.

In my initial post, I laid out what I define as this Max Effort — training up to 6× per week, 2 sets max. But to survive that, we also have to talk about the Minimum Effort.

This means knowing how to take it back on rest days to account for that crucial recovery Mentzer talked about. Sometimes this requires stepping away from the gym for 24 to 72 hours. Why? Because the mental accumulation of intrusive thinking builds up. Your lower back is compressed from the sheer intensity. Or maybe you just need a break from people, because your judgmental brain gets triggered by intangible nonsense — like the kids or the doomscrollers taking up space, blowing 10+ minutes on an alleged "rest break" between working sets. Or the even stranger phenomenon of people needing a 30+ minute "warm-up" or "mobility" routine before doing anything, completely avoiding the act of actually trying hard in the gym.

I digress. I was one of those people at certain points in my journey. I got caught up in the completely unnecessary fluff of fitness YouTube — ranging from hardcore natties in their dungeon gym setups to wannabe influencers desperately pushing their affiliate codes to the masses.

Training is meant to be for you. It's meant to teach you discipline because the body you fell into isn't exactly what you wanted, but it's what you ultimately need to work on to progress in life and mentality. A lack of patience and attention span is a huge factor here. We think WAY TOO MUCH and do so little in a space that I can personally say is the safest, most constructive place in the world.

Make the gym your playground. You must have the self-respect to push through the waves and the demon days to become who you were meant to be.

I treat my gym sessions like the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. It's an anime character-building saga. There is SO MUCH to do in the gym, and you need to be smart about both your body and your mind to progress in your lifts, grow the muscles you want to grow, and carve out the areas you neglected after a lifetime of naivety.

Training should never feel like a punishment for letting yourself go. It doesn't matter what caused it — the social circles you were a part of, the work obligations that hijacked your time, or family members who don't believe in fitness beyond their little 10k steps setup. (Honestly, stop with this 10k step minimum cope — walking is an infant-tier movement, lmao.)

Where am I going with this, you wonder? As DeDe speaks to you through this essay, I am telling you that you need to give a fuck about yourself. Solely.

It's a place to dedicate yourself to reconstructing whatever you are right now into whatever you want to be — simply by putting in the effort and working through the traumas you need to let go of.

I surrender to God on a daily basis. Half the time I don't know what the fuck I am doing, but my faith just grows stronger. A lot of amazing things happen in that space. PRs go unnoticed by the world, but you did them. The body you didn't know you could have comes into fruition simply because you turned up — every day, or every other day. It is your testament to changing yourself by trusting the process.

Doing things that matter for your health is the primary catalyst for lifelong change. Only you are capable of making those moves. Stop listening to the naysayers. If you HATE the way you turned out, every single day is an ample opportunity to make it HAPPEN.

There is nothing that can stop me besides intrusive thoughts — or the rain, I guess (lol). So don't feel bad for feeling weak, or failing a lift, or thinking the dumbass kids are laughing at you. (They are, but they're also simping to TikTok too, lmao.)

Train to your heart's content and watch the transformation unfold. You have a story that is meant to be told from your own POV, and the real ones will show up when they see the man or woman who finally walked through that door.

You wandered through the group fitness classes, the free weights, the machines, and the YouTube jargon to make the gains for change. It is an art to become STRONG and BEAUTIFUL because you actually gave a fuck about yourself instead of waiting for other people to.

The unconditional ones will see it — your parents, your siblings, the uncles and aunties who supported you when nobody else did — because they know what happens when you turn up and do the hard work. WHEN YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED IT.

Look at yourself in the mirror and see the opportunity to turn your life around completely. If you have access to a gym — or if you need to do the research to find one that feels fun, safe, and close by to save time — please do it.

It'll be worth it when you wake up one day and that old self is no longer there. You kicked that mofo out entirely, and the new version has risen from the depths of hell as God allows grace into your efforts of change.