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Treating Cubing like working out in a gym

tozies24

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My motivation for this thread is that I got a pack of pre-workout powder for lifting and I took some and cubed and my times were significantly lower than usual (about 14 when I average 15-16). So I was just wondering if anyone has thought of this or has put a program like this into practice.

Over the last month, I have gotten into lifting weights and going to the gym a lot and it has gotten me to thinking, what if your cubing skill could be improved by treating it as a "work out". I am not saying that cubing is a workout for your fingers or something like that, but I am saying that let's say you go to the gym and do bench press 4 sets of 8 or something. Then you go do other workouts for your chest and upper back. Afterwards you need to get some calories and protein to rebuild your muscles.

The point I am trying to make is that for cubing, you could warmup with F2L and LL stuff and then do an average of 12 or something and then if you were happy, move on to other puzzles or just call it a day. I'm not quite sure if doing 300 solves in a day really helps, but it seems as I get faster, if I do about 50 solves a day, my times seem to be going down ever so slightly.

Also, since I have been going to the gym more often, I have been going to bed earlier and getting more sleep and this has also helped my cubing. I know that a lot of us are in school and have to get up early and have homework to do, but sleep helps a lot. Even my schoolwork really seems to stick in my head when it comes to test time.

So in conclusion, I am just saying that this is something to maybe look into and it may help and may not help but its still interesting in my mind.

This is my first thread in a year of posting :) hope its a good one
 

Thorsten

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Nice thoughts.

My times are also getting better when doing averages about 50 solves per day every day (better than doing like 100 three times a week)
After pausing a few days my times get worse (like 2-3 seconds on average) when i start doing my daily Avg of 50 again, my times get better (and most likely better than before the break!)

But: I think everyone learns different (mentioning plateaus etc.)
adding: I don't think workout nutrition does affect cubing abilities... (its Proteins...they don't affect the brain...)

btw:
I'm going to the gym since four weeks and saw a different effect on my times combined with training:
After a workout my muscles in the arms and hands were so exhaustet, that my times were like 10-15 seconds worse...so no cubing at workout days for me....
 

RubiksCubex

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Yeah, I think that cubing should be treated as what it is- a sport, a hobby. And to get good you have to treat it like any other sport or hobby. Practise a variety of skills and tactics and not always just solving, solving, solving.
 

tozies24

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Once you start treating it like this it will no longer be fun and you will bore easily.

I am not saying to treat cubing like working out. I am just wondering if people have treated it like this, or if anyone would think it is a good idea to look into supplements for cubing (which would be kind of ridiculous but actually there could be benefits). Even just eating healthier and getting more sleep could improve cubing.

Correlation != Causation

On the package it said that it gives you focus and other things. It really pumps your mind and body up and you feel like you can do anything (kind of).
 
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