Author Topic: Strength & Fitness 2018  (Read 77846 times)

vertkurt

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #100 on: January 29, 2018, 11:21:33 AM »
Been doing the linear progression/plateau for 5 years now. Biggest numbers I ever got to were 315 3x5 squat, 430 deadlift, 155 3x5 military press, and 245 3x5 bench at body weight of 205 6'2". I still train 3 days a week, but having cut body fat/weight to 185 my strength has suffered severely. There's been a decrease in all lifts across the board by 35% at this new body weight. The good news is I feel better cardiovascular wise and have more power when I play soccer twice a week.

It's a trade off. I can be really strong and fatter or somewhat strong and leaner. A side note and totally unrelated/rant, looking at all the instagram fitness bros/chicks with unrealistic/fake/steroid enhanced aesthetics by the multitudes makes it even harder for me as I make my mediocre progress while putting in the same work. There's a reason why a lot of the younger, 16-22, crowd end up with messed up endocrine systems/functionality and needing TRT before their 30's. Sigh...

jordanread

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #101 on: January 29, 2018, 12:13:27 PM »
@vertkurt , thanks for the background info (although not the rant*). Feel free to let me know what your actual goals are, and I'll get you added.


*I understand that there are things out there that get frustrating. What I've determined is unless one has questions or modifies their goals based on these feelings, it's not useful in this particular gauntlet. I'd appreciate it if you could keep things here positive and/or constructive in the future.

vertkurt

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #102 on: January 29, 2018, 01:01:02 PM »
I didn't mean any offence. I was just merely commenting on the lies rampant in the fitness industry that prey on people. But you are correct, I will be constructive towards others and their fitness goals and endeavors.

I didn't realize what this thread was before I posted. I'm sorry for wasting your time, but I will politely decline your invitation to be added.

Radagast

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #103 on: January 30, 2018, 12:45:36 AM »
@Radagast love your user name!
I agree. The ratio of awesome people here is better than IRL I think.
Blushes. Agrees.

zeli2033

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #104 on: January 30, 2018, 08:27:01 AM »
Never to late to join. I'll get you both added in the AM. @zeli2033 , I can't help but think that @Bracken_Joy would be an excellent resource on form.

Hey Jordan, I saw the bat signal =) I'll read back over stuff in a bit and drum up some resources. Sadly, with fertility treatments and such, I've been out of the lifting game for a while now, and will be a while still =( So I doubt I'll join in on the Gauntlet this year personally though. I'm glad you're keeping it rolling though!

Edit: read Zeli's post. I'm guessing she's got it under control! The Snatch is just a bitch of a movement to get down, people spend years perfecting it. Considered by many the most technical of all lifts, and I'm kinda inclined to agree. Frankly, if you've got the component movements down but the technique still isn't there, often you need a couple coaching sessions to cue you for your errors.

@zeli2033 what are you using for wrist strengthening exercises? Grip strength tends to be one of the main areas women fall behind men in progressing lifts, so I think it's brilliant to work on. And I know will be a huuuuge challenge for me when I go back to lifting, since it took me so long to build up in the first place.

Thank you for the follow up, @Bracken_Joy! Noted on the potential need for solo coaching to get the Snatch technique down. I’ve got it on my list for this year. That lift is a PITA but I want to own it!

As for wrist training, I honestly don’t have a specific regimen. Outside of previously spending a fair amount of time doing equal pull/push training with bouldering and hand standing, I was only adding light wrist warm up work (wrist mobility extension/flexion, adduction/abduction and circles both directions with a weighted ball of usually .5-1 lb). It seemed to be enough. The wrist wonkiness came on when I decreased the body weight training, increased the lifting and continued typing at a computer for 8+ hours a day (grumble). Any resources or input you have would be greatly appreciated, especially around grip strength as well!

Drole

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #105 on: January 30, 2018, 09:49:36 AM »
I’ve enjoyed my workouts this month and have been feeling good about dedicating more time to them as I feel like now is my time to get it together.  That said, numbers-wise and visually, I seem to be making no progress. 


Strength: I’ve gone to the gym for strength work regularly (16 days).  I started increasing weights as I tend to do the same routine over and over without really pushing.  I usually lift a challenging amount of weight, but not to failure, etc.  I tend to do legs 1-2x a week and much harder/longer than other muscle groups as that is where I need the most improvement. 

Cardio:
I started a swimming boot camp that kicks my butt….today will be my 5th time going.  Side note to any swimmers in the group: I’m kinda relearning my rhythm in freesytle, but why am I so damn slow at this stroke?  A couple of the other ladies in the group can barely do a pushup but beat the poop out of me in the water.  I think I’m still twisting to much when I turn to breathe, but take in water if I don’t turn a lot. 

I generally run 2x a week (4-5mi) with one day being pretty fast for me as I go with a girl who is much, much faster than I am (its her rest day). 

I bike the kids to school and home generally everyday as well as bike to the gym, yoga, etc.  I also added some resistance biking at the gym after reading (admiring) Jon_snow’s routine/success. 

Stretching: I do this on my own as well as 2-3 yoga classes a week (yin yoga focused on deep joint work).

Diet: Week 1 still had some holiday excess as well as Week 3 when we went out of town for a few days.  (I also exercised less those weeks).  Yet, those were the weeks I lost weight (1-2#s).  Weeks 2 and 4 when I was much stricter with what I ate and how much, I gained weight.  So when I weighed myself on 29 Jan, I was the exact same weight that I was on 1 Jan.  And it seems doubtful there was muscle gain based on measuring tape numbers/photos.  I also did a BF test mid-month and it showed a slightly higher BF% (less than 1%) of what I measured back in September 2017. 

I’ve been targeting about 1400 calories/day on a 30 carb/40 protein/30 fat split.  I followed a keto regimen for about 6 months last year and didn’t experience great results (plus, I was damn cranky on that amount of carbs).  So I moved to more of a lean protein focus with the above #s.  Given the lack of change this month, I am playing around with the idea of a mostly-vegan approach for the next little bit.  ‘Mostly-vegan’ meaning I still plan to use the Whey protein I have on hand to keep protein levels up (I’m trying to see if I can hit a 45 carb/30 protein/25 fat split) and will probably also still use my bone broth until I have some veg broth made. 

Thoughts/ideas/suggestions?  My main goals are to reduce body fat as I just feel/look too soft and to improve my flexibility (which is terrible). 

hudsoncat

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #106 on: January 30, 2018, 11:04:32 AM »
Bah! I did great the first three weeks of this month, then last week I came down with the flu. It was no fun. But! Back at it this week. I went for a run last night after almost a week off and I'm reminded that running is not easier when you take time off, even just a very short time off.

With the exception of the flu week, each week of January I  ran 4-5 times, did at least two workouts with weights at the gym, two sessions of yoga, and swam a few (okay, very few) laps. I'm going to call my January goals mostly a success, because I did great minus the flu week. I hope to keep the same consistent routine for Feb.I need to start biking though.

First 'race' of the year this Sunday! A local run club does a can of food per person donation for a timed 7 miler. I'm probably going to take it easier than I had originally planned given that'll I'll be not that far out from being pretty miserably sick, but it will be nice to get out and run with other people and see some friends. I also signed up for a half marathon in May and one in July.

Drole: I have no input on how to get faster swimming, but if you figure out please share. :) I'm the slowest swimmer I know. But I haven't sank yet, so that's a positive.

oneday

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #107 on: January 30, 2018, 12:01:44 PM »
@Radagast love your user name!
I agree. The ratio of awesome people here is better than IRL I think.
Blushes. Agrees.

Are we still allowed to +1?  Because I +1 this comment.

oneday

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #108 on: January 30, 2018, 12:15:13 PM »

Diet: Week 1 still had some holiday excess as well as Week 3 when we went out of town for a few days.  (I also exercised less those weeks).  Yet, those were the weeks I lost weight (1-2#s).  Weeks 2 and 4 when I was much stricter with what I ate and how much, I gained weight.  So when I weighed myself on 29 Jan, I was the exact same weight that I was on 1 Jan.  And it seems doubtful there was muscle gain based on measuring tape numbers/photos.  I also did a BF test mid-month and it showed a slightly higher BF% (less than 1%) of what I measured back in September 2017. 

Thoughts/ideas/suggestions?   

Drole, I do not have much in the way of knowledge to share.  But my own experience is similar to yours.  When I focus on dieting, I can eat poorly/a lot/too much, and it won't show on the scale that day/week, but the following day/week it will turn up.  Not sure why this happens, and it doesn't happen every time, but often enough to be very noticeable.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #109 on: January 30, 2018, 03:37:04 PM »
Keto/low carb is the only diet that works for me and I’ve found it quite easy to stick to once you get past the initial adaptation period. Not going to try and start a diet flame war though.

Drole

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #110 on: January 30, 2018, 04:41:31 PM »
Keto/low carb is the only diet that works for me and I’ve found it quite easy to stick to once you get past the initial adaptation period. Not going to try and start a diet flame war though.

Oh I like/d keto and still think it makes sense. I think I probably needed to be slightly higher in carbs than I was, but didn't want to risk jumping in and out of ketosis, so I kept them quite low.  But it just didn't seem to have the same fat-reducing effect on me.

The little voice in my head says if its too easy, its just not going to work for me. 

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #111 on: January 31, 2018, 10:31:01 AM »
Picked up my new steed today. Not going to let this get destroyed by salt so probably won't ride it much for a month or more. Riding outside is vastly preferable to riding on the trainer inside, though!



Gave myself a biking break today as we have a hike later and my chiro appointment was very early in the AM. Will get back to it tomorrow. Feeling better with regular cardio.

Mongoose

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #112 on: January 31, 2018, 12:16:44 PM »
I signed up for my solo 5k to meet my goal. It's March 17. I have never run one on my own so this will give me some sort of baseline.

I ran a 7k last week. 1 hour and 9 minutes. I'm cringing at the slow time. Good things: I wasn't last despite missing 3 weeks of training due to the flu/pneumonia; I finished; it was an extremely steep hilly course.

I also signed up for the Flying Pig half marathon in May. I hope to run that one and a second in October (venue to be decided later).

oneday

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #113 on: January 31, 2018, 12:55:50 PM »
Picked up my new steed today. Not going to let this get destroyed by salt so probably won't ride it much for a month or more. Riding outside is vastly preferable to riding on the trainer inside, though!

Gave myself a biking break today as we have a hike later and my chiro appointment was very early in the AM. Will get back to it tomorrow. Feeling better with regular cardio.

Is that a Giant Escape?  STBX has one of those; he has been happy with it.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #114 on: January 31, 2018, 01:23:05 PM »
Picked up my new steed today. Not going to let this get destroyed by salt so probably won't ride it much for a month or more. Riding outside is vastly preferable to riding on the trainer inside, though!

Gave myself a biking break today as we have a hike later and my chiro appointment was very early in the AM. Will get back to it tomorrow. Feeling better with regular cardio.

Is that a Giant Escape?  STBX has one of those; he has been happy with it.

Yes, 2017 Giant Escape 2 with the fenders and rack transferred over from my older bike that's now the dedicated indoor trainer. My wife has one too that we bought used a couple years back. Been happy with her Giant and they're super affordable.
« Last Edit: January 31, 2018, 01:56:15 PM by HarbingerofBunnies »

Bicycle_B

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #115 on: February 01, 2018, 11:07:54 PM »
Checking in monthly for accountability - goals vs results to date.

<= 23.5% body fat... measured at 31.4% 1/31.  may have mismeasured 1/1, have been at 30% to start instead of 29.25%.  Still, month of too much junk food and very few runs.  Gained 2 lbs. 

Complete >=1 10K...  Ran 2x, longest run 2.5 miles.  Did do 8 sessions of physical therapy (Graston...ooo, painful) for plantar fasciitis and a fair bit of related stretching/exercises. 

Run 1 mile <= 07:15... no time trial

Push ups 1 set/20... improved from 6 at start of month to peak of 14

Pull ups 1 set/3... peak of 1

Burpees 1 set/15... peak of 8

Spoon

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #116 on: February 02, 2018, 07:05:45 PM »
January results

I started off slow as I started 2018 by getting smacked in the face with a sleeper, which resulted in a trip to emergency, a few stitches, a shaved eyebrow and some down time for healing. It wasn't wielded by anybody! It was an accident caused by someone's piss poor carpentry, which gives me the shits as I trained as a carpenter and in 10 years of working on building sites I haven't managed to injure myself this badly. I was at a friends house to do some watering while they were interstate and playing on a seat/raised garden bed with my 2 year old. A 2.4m sleeper I was standing on was only supported by two center joists about 300mm apart with only a single batten screw in each joist. The screws gave in and I fall 600mm or so to the ground and land on my feet. While falling my thoughts are on what I am going to land on as I was bare foot, but fortunately there are only leaves on the ground. While I am falling the sleeper catapults into my head leaving a curved wound underneath my eyebrow and a straight one going straight up. Fortunately my daughter was far enough away that she was unharmed. Fuck whoever built that thing. My friends have also had problems with other things he built, and have had to have quite a few things he built fixed.

Anyway back to Strength and Fitness. My first workout was yoga on the 16th, and have been fairly consistent since. I have started back at work which will affect energy levels, but hope to get momentum up while the weather is good.

Yoga 7/9. With the late start this feels like it is on track.
 
Fasting 1/2. I plan on doing one every week of Feb and then taking a week off after that, before moving to one every 2 weeks. I find it easier to do when I am at work so deliberately held off until now.

Cardio 5/6. Again with the late start this feels OK. I also included a bike ride to the shops with the bike trailer I did as I pushed it fairly hard. Yet to start on the H.I.I.T training, maybe in Feb?

Strength 0/4. Biggest fail so far. I haven't felt like doing any strength training so have skipped it. It is possible to get it on track from here but I'm still not feeling any motivation towards this one. I will leave it up for the moment and see if anything changes. 

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #117 on: February 03, 2018, 06:23:24 AM »
Is there a benefit to building in rest days from cardio like there is with resistance training, or should I only rest if I feel like my body needs a break?

oneday

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #118 on: February 03, 2018, 11:16:11 AM »
January wrap up: Ran 2 miles all 4 weeks, even though I had a cold one of those weeks. Happy with this. Pushups I am not as pleased with myself.  I leave a rest day between workouts, which tends to stretch into 3 or 4 rest days.  I'm still progressing, so there's that.

Week 5: Ran first thing today and am reminded that my performance is better early. Sometimes it is not convenient to run early, so have to keep that in mind when I have a slower time.

Still progressing slowly with pushups.

Serendip

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #119 on: February 04, 2018, 10:34:19 AM »
January
Increased my overall movement most days

SKI: 12 days (this is either alpine or nordic..and usually just a couple hours at a time)
WALK: 5 days (these are between 1-2 hour walks)
YOGA/QIGONG: 6 days (online classes)

I signed up for my half-marathon in June (haven't run one in 6 years so this is one of my goals this year, just to finish healthfully) but have a hip tendonitis that needs rehabbing before I can start to run.

 I might experiment with breaking my walks up into more frequent but shorter times to see if it helps and try to get at least 2 physio or massage treatments to help with this.





Laura33

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #120 on: February 04, 2018, 01:11:17 PM »
January report:

Managed 3-4x/week at the gym -- 4x until my knee, then 3-4x since.  No stupid injuries, yay.   
I am assuming negative progress on squats, since I have not done any for two weeks+ due to the damn knee.  Seeing orthopedist tomorrow, so hope I will have better insight into what's going on and what I can do soon.
Push-ups improving -- I can now do one "real" one, and 5+ on a low box (vs a higher box).
Zero progress on pull-ups -- worked on it a few days with bands at the gym, but awaiting my home bar to tackle it methodically.

Laura33

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #121 on: February 05, 2018, 07:24:14 PM »
@jordanread:  could you please modify my goals to delete the squat goal?  According to the ortho, the knee is either arthritis or a torn meniscus, and either way I am not allowed to do squats for awhile and then need to be very careful/light when I do.  Ugh.  Guess it’s an upper-body year.  😭😡

jordanread

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #122 on: February 05, 2018, 07:49:04 PM »
@jordanread:  could you please modify my goals to delete the squat goal?  According to the ortho, the knee is either arthritis or a torn meniscus, and either way I am not allowed to do squats for awhile and then need to be very careful/light when I do.  Ugh.  Guess it’s an upper-body year.  😭😡
If you meant Back Squats, it's done.

jordanread

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #123 on: February 09, 2018, 08:26:43 AM »
MXT and I have been doing the Yoga with Adriene videos a couple times a week. It's been an interesting experience. I'm not nearly as flexible as I'd like to be, but it definitely does ground me more than I would have thought. It seems good at that. I actually imagine that this is like a stripped down version of the kind of lesson @EngineerYogi does (who is always the one who tells me it's not about flexibility). It's definitely the kind of thing that I could see making a habit out of.

EngineerYogi

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #124 on: February 09, 2018, 09:15:51 AM »
MXT and I have been doing the Yoga with Adriene videos a couple times a week. It's been an interesting experience. I'm not nearly as flexible as I'd like to be, but it definitely does ground me more than I would have thought. It seems good at that. I actually imagine that this is like a stripped down version of the kind of lesson @EngineerYogi does (who is always the one who tells me it's not about flexibility). It's definitely the kind of thing that I could see making a habit out of.
You only need a flexible mind! ;)

I really need to check out her videos and maybe record a quick flow myself.

jordanread

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #125 on: February 09, 2018, 09:29:18 AM »
MXT and I have been doing the Yoga with Adriene videos a couple times a week. It's been an interesting experience. I'm not nearly as flexible as I'd like to be, but it definitely does ground me more than I would have thought. It seems good at that. I actually imagine that this is like a stripped down version of the kind of lesson @EngineerYogi does (who is always the one who tells me it's not about flexibility). It's definitely the kind of thing that I could see making a habit out of.
You only need a flexible mind! ;)

I really need to check out her videos and maybe record a quick flow myself.

I would totally watch that!! In case you are curious, this strange mindfuck that occured was True-Day 3.

You going to jump into the gauntlet this year?

EngineerYogi

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #126 on: February 09, 2018, 09:37:15 AM »
My fitness goals this year are to at some point do something fitnessy. :P I'm currently teaching yoga every other week and doing yoga on the in between weeks.

Eric222

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #127 on: February 09, 2018, 09:44:34 AM »
I'm late to the party, but I've already made substantive progress this year.  I just need to keep it up. 

Goal 1: Lose weight
     Starting weight (as of Christmas):  220 lbs.
     Goal weight:  190 lbs. 

Goal 2:  Start running again, do a half marathon late Summer/fall 2018. 
Stretch goal 2:  Run the Disney marathon in Jan 2019 - this was my first marathon back in 2005, my brother is planning on running it next year.  I'd like to go. 

I've changed my diet - it's mostly of the Mediterranean variety, with lots of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, fish, etc.  (Greek salads FTW).  No processed sugar and minimal processed foods.  I removed the budget limit on groceries that fit the diet and clamped down on the budget for eating out.  So the food at home is much better than what I can get elsewhere.  I started walking ~1 hour/day and target at least 10,000 steps a day.  It's stupid, but that number has motivated me to get off my ass at 10pm and go for a walk a few times....

I'm down to 202 pounds now (-18 lbs, yay!) and I've started running again this week.  The first 10 pounds melted off - now I'm at about a 1.5-2 lbs decrease/week.

After a month of walking, I'm currently able to comfortably run 10 min/miles for at least 4 miles...I'm hesitant to increase my distance/speed more quickly, and I've done that the last 3 days in a row.  The thing that could derail me fastest would be an injury.  This is the first time in a long time where I don't have a good (or any) sense of where my limits are.  Just walking an hour a day and losing some weight has made an enormous difference.  I feel like I could go out and run 8 miles right now...but that's probably a bad idea.

Updates to come....


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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #128 on: February 09, 2018, 09:57:10 AM »
My fitness goals this year are to at some point do something fitnessy. :P I'm currently teaching yoga every other week and doing yoga on the in between weeks.

I like having you here. So I added you to the tracking post. Didn't even abuse my power, and add "Record a Yoga Flow" to your goals. :)

flan

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #129 on: February 09, 2018, 01:35:21 PM »
I used barbells for the first time! I really hope I'll be able to report some noticeable strength gains here throughout the year :)

If anyone remembers, I had a weird asymmetrical shoulder inflexibility issue last year. I'm happy to report that this seems to have improved a tad since I've switched which shoulder I use to press my coffee in the morning. LOL.

EngineerYogi

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #130 on: February 09, 2018, 02:08:17 PM »
I used barbells for the first time! I really hope I'll be able to report some noticeable strength gains here throughout the year :)

If anyone remembers, I had a weird asymmetrical shoulder inflexibility issue last year. I'm happy to report that this seems to have improved a tad since I've switched which shoulder I use to press my coffee in the morning. LOL.

That is a fascinating discovery on the coffee press! Good job on the barbells, they are exciting once they aren't intimidating anymore!

flan

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #131 on: February 09, 2018, 02:11:23 PM »
I used barbells for the first time! I really hope I'll be able to report some noticeable strength gains here throughout the year :)

If anyone remembers, I had a weird asymmetrical shoulder inflexibility issue last year. I'm happy to report that this seems to have improved a tad since I've switched which shoulder I use to press my coffee in the morning. LOL.

That is a fascinating discovery on the coffee press! Good job on the barbells, they are exciting once they aren't intimidating anymore!


Thanks! I won't lie. I am deathly afraid of falling over and dying while doing back squats, especially since my shoulders are barely flexible enough for holding the weights on my shoulder rather than my neck.

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #132 on: February 09, 2018, 05:19:02 PM »
Went for my first micro-run today! (walk/run intervals) very slow and smallish amounts of time so I don't aggravate my tendonitis--I tend to go from the couch to too much.
 It felt nice to be outside in the cool crisp air and I am looking forward to doing 2-3 of these a week, weather holding (no blizzards).

I also enjoy the yoga with Adrienne series and do a couple a week..she mixes things up and I appreciate her laid back style.

jordanread

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #133 on: February 09, 2018, 08:48:28 PM »
I also enjoy the yoga with Adrienne series and do a couple a week..she mixes things up and I appreciate her laid back style.

I like her super annoying dog.

Serendip

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #134 on: February 10, 2018, 09:07:05 AM »
I also enjoy the yoga with Adrienne series and do a couple a week..she mixes things up and I appreciate her laid back style.

I like her super annoying dog.

Yes, Benji is the best part. He just wants to be near her ALL the time :)

oneday

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #135 on: February 10, 2018, 04:49:46 PM »
All this talk of yoga is getting me interested in it, but I'm not at a place where I can add anything into my schedule.  Bummer.

Week 6: Ran first thing today; it was good.

Still progressing with pushups.  In the last week of the program, I should be able to do 100 wall pushups by this time next week!

Serendip

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #136 on: February 10, 2018, 10:05:40 PM »
I'm late to the party, but I've already made substantive progress this year.  I just need to keep it up. 

Goal 1: Lose weight
     Starting weight (as of Christmas):  220 lbs.
     Goal weight:  190 lbs. 

Goal 2:  Start running again, do a half marathon late Summer/fall 2018. 
Stretch goal 2:  Run the Disney marathon in Jan 2019 - this was my first marathon back in 2005, my brother is planning on running it next year.  I'd like to go. 

I've changed my diet - it's mostly of the Mediterranean variety, with lots of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, fish, etc.  (Greek salads FTW).  No processed sugar and minimal processed foods.  I removed the budget limit on groceries that fit the diet and clamped down on the budget for eating out.  So the food at home is much better than what I can get elsewhere.  I started walking ~1 hour/day and target at least 10,000 steps a day.  It's stupid, but that number has motivated me to get off my ass at 10pm and go for a walk a few times....

I'm down to 202 pounds now (-18 lbs, yay!) and I've started running again this week.  The first 10 pounds melted off - now I'm at about a 1.5-2 lbs decrease/week.

After a month of walking, I'm currently able to comfortably run 10 min/miles for at least 4 miles...I'm hesitant to increase my distance/speed more quickly, and I've done that the last 3 days in a row.  The thing that could derail me fastest would be an injury.  This is the first time in a long time where I don't have a good (or any) sense of where my limits are.  Just walking an hour a day and losing some weight has made an enormous difference.  I feel like I could go out and run 8 miles right now...but that's probably a bad idea.

Updates to come....

Just read this update Eric222 and holy toledo--great work!!
That is such a huge change in quite a short time and I think your approach is wise (not pushing ahead too quickly).

I tend to jump ahead too soon and have often suffered setbacks due to injury..so I've been limiting my walk-time even though I want to do my 2 hour lake loop..it's too much and my body doesn't need it right now.

Mezzie

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #137 on: February 11, 2018, 03:07:12 PM »
I'm making easy-to-meet goals. Every week, I want to do some kind of strength, cardio, and stretching activity. The more the better, but with my schedule so buy right now, three workouts a week may be all I can commit to. I've done one workout in the past week, it would still be an improvement.

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #138 on: February 11, 2018, 07:12:00 PM »
I'm making easy-to-meet goals. Every week, I want to do some kind of strength, cardio, and stretching activity. The more the better, but with my schedule so buy right now, three workouts a week may be all I can commit to. I've done one workout in the past week, it would still be an improvement.

I've got your goals added. Welcome to the gauntlet.



For me, the better half and I are switching up out diet quite a bit. Also, we're going to do more of the Yoga with Adriene flows in the evening. I don't think I'm going to hit my goal of <=32" waist by the beginning of March, but hopefully by the end of it.

TX2RVA

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #139 on: February 12, 2018, 08:21:39 AM »
Update (I need to do better about these)

- I'm 57 miles behind schedule to meet my goal of running 1200 miles in 2018.  I'm not too concerned because I'll get plenty of mileage once marathon training starts.  I just need to keep the deficit from increasing.

- I ran 23 miles last week -- just shy of my 25 mile goal.  I did two double digit runs this past weekend (10 & 11.5) -- I feel fine so I'm not going to worry about it.  I enjoy running long at a comfortable speed, but I'll need to incorporate tempo runs in a month or so. 

- I purchased Lebert Equalizer Bars from Amazon on Saturday to help with my dip and pull up goals.  I have a pull up bar in my garage but I don't get out there enough because it is cold.  I mainly work on pullups and dips at the gym but I want to add additional workouts (not to failure just greasing the groove) on non gym days.

zeli2033

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #140 on: February 13, 2018, 08:35:13 AM »
Small update: I was able to PR today with the Snatch. Got to 80lbs. Technique still needs work but at least it’s progress!

Eric222

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #141 on: February 13, 2018, 09:43:48 AM »
New Goal:  Not die during the half marathon I signed up for at the end of April.

FireHiker

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #142 on: February 13, 2018, 05:45:18 PM »
I would like to join this gauntlet, because I have a couple specific goals this year. Assuming I get a permit, a friend and I are hiking Mt. Whitney in July (permit request submitted to the lottery; now we wait), and the same friend talked me into doing a half marathon in June. I have not run more than 2 consecutive miles as an adult; if I ever have, it was a LOT of years ago! I have a training plan worked up, modified couch to 5k and Hal Higdon's half plan, based on the fact that I'm approx. week 4-5 fitness level at this point on C25K.

So, I guess my goals are:
1. take up running such that I can complete a half marathon June 3rd under the 4 hour max time limit
2. conditioning such that I can complete a Mt. Whitney hike in July
3. continue with regular yoga practice (min twice per week)
4. at least 1 boot camp class per week (I have an unlimited membership at a yoga studio that also offers a boot camp class which I attend 2x per week, work permitting).
5. increase boot camp weights from 3's and 5's to 5's and 8's by end of 2018

Overarching goal being "fit before 40" since that milestone birthday is in August. :)

flan

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #143 on: February 13, 2018, 06:46:25 PM »
New Goal:  Not die during the half marathon I signed up for at the end of April.

I think you'll be able to cross this one off ;)

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #144 on: February 13, 2018, 07:55:30 PM »
New Goal:  Not die during the half marathon I signed up for at the end of April.

I think you'll be able to cross this one off ;)
Agreed! As long as you show up that is! And 4 hours to complete 13.1 miles would be an 18 minute mile, that is a comfortable walking pace. You will just need enough endurance and conditioning to last the whole distance and you'll be fine!

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #145 on: February 14, 2018, 05:00:27 AM »
@FireHiker why is there a permit? Is that because there’s more demand than trail capacity or something? I’ve never heard of hikes like that.

FireHiker

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #146 on: February 14, 2018, 10:30:30 AM »
@FireHiker why is there a permit? Is that because there’s more demand than trail capacity or something? I’ve never heard of hikes like that.

There is massive demand relative to trail capacity, yes. They limit single day trips to 100 people per day, and overnight backpacking to 60 per day. Some of the dates last year were 600-1000+ permit requests (admittedly those higher numbers are on the weekend days). There was not a single overnight day within our desired timeframe where the permits requested didn't exceed capacity. We carefully picked our dates based on last year's statistics and made sure to fill in all 15 alternates, no weekends at all. I'm cautiously optimistic, and a bit scared, that we're actually going to get a permit.

It's actually pretty common in California to need permits for hiking, especially within a national park (Mt. Whitney is in Sequoia), but most hikes it isn't a big deal to get them. Mt. Whitney, Half Dome, John Muir Trail are all hard to get though. There's often a portion that are available for day of walk-ins also.

On my fitness progress: I went to my usual 60 minute boot camp class yesterday AND woke up early (NOT a morning person) to get in 2 miles this morning. I pieced together a combo training plan last night, using Couch to 5K and Hal Higdon's half marathon plan. I'm actually almost two weeks ahead of where I thought I was conditioning-wise just from my regular boot camp class. I ran 18 minutes (1.5 miles), walked 2 minutes, ran 3, walked 2, for a total of 2 miles. The couch to 5k for today was run 6 minutes, walk 3 minutes, 3 times. I'm feeling like it's a little more doable now than I thought originally. :)

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #147 on: February 14, 2018, 10:38:48 AM »
Wow, that’s so different from hiking in my area.

jordanread

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #148 on: February 14, 2018, 12:48:27 PM »
@Eric222 and @FireHiker , I've got you added.

FireHiker

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2018
« Reply #149 on: February 14, 2018, 01:45:36 PM »
Wow, that’s so different from hiking in my area.

Take a look some time at pictures of hiking Half Dome before and after the permit cap was put into place. It was super crowded and dangerous before. I haven't done it yet, but it's on the list. It's a pain in the butt though; really hoping our Whitney permit comes through!

Thanks for the add, @jordanread :)