Fitness 2020

[Sailor Sam]

I'm plonking along, alternating between jogging days, and strength days. I can feel myself getting a little strong, and that's always very cool.

I'm suddenly on a limited diet though, and struggling with nutrition.

[Metalcat]

I'm plonking along, alternating between jogging days, and strength days. I can feel myself getting a little strong, and that's always very cool.

I'm suddenly on a limited diet though, and struggling with nutrition.

Keeping up my Pilates, gym, walking, and stairs routine here.
However, I'm off 6 days a week, what else am I going to do?

I get my pool back soon, which is exciting.

[APowers]

Yesterday I tried to help a random dude push-start the engine of his car and it's one hell of a workout (the engine never started BTW). Now I see why someone invented that weighted sled pushing exercise. It's cardio, core, leg, glutes, glutes and more glutes all in one. I wonder if there's a practical way of incorporating something similar to my routine.

I mean....you have a car, don't you?

[Barbaebigode]

Yesterday I tried to help a random dude push-start the engine of his car and it's one hell of a workout (the engine never started BTW). Now I see why someone invented that weighted sled pushing exercise. It's cardio, core, leg, glutes, glutes and more glutes all in one. I wonder if there's a practical way of incorporating something similar to my routine.

I mean....you have a car, don't you?

Yes, but I don't have a big empty flat surface, so I would have to drive every time I wanted to do this particular exercise.

[CodingHare]

I love this thread already!

My goals:

1. Run a 5k by mid-March, and a 10k by May.  I am about halfway to the 5k (using one of those Couch to 10k apps).
2. Do a 20 mile group ride in April (will wear wetproof clothes--it's soggy here in the PNW).

Once I've hit those goals, I plan to pay a trainer to show me how to do one of the basic weightlifting programs to make sure I start out with good form.  Honestly my goal is just to start doing it, because I walk into the weights area, get intimidated, and walk out. If I get over that this year I will feel great!

[mm1970]

I'm plonking along, alternating between jogging days, and strength days. I can feel myself getting a little strong, and that's always very cool.

I'm suddenly on a limited diet though, and struggling with nutrition.

Keeping up my Pilates, gym, walking, and stairs routine here.
However, I'm off 6 days a week, what else am I going to do?

I get my pool back soon, which is exciting.

This is all good.

My spouse is traveling all week (5 am Mon to 10 pm Fri), so that leaves me with ALL THE THINGS.  Two kid drop offs, one pickup, all the dog walks, all the dinners, etc. etc.
Trying to keep up my regular workout routine when he's gone is crazy talk (Mon 1 hr weights, Tues 1 hr track, Weds long dog walk, Thurs 45 min run or swim, Friday 1 hour weights).

So I dial it back, but did I mention the dog was having stomach issues and woke me up at 2 am Monday and 5 TIMES Tuesday?  Yeah.

So far...
Monday, 35 min weight workout at home in my living room (Beachbody on Demand, tried a new workout), + dog walk
Tuesday, 35 min track/ stadiums workout (my calves hate me right now) + dog walk.
Wednesday, dog walk I was so tired.
Thursday, I finally got sleep, so very short dog walk.
Friday - TBD was going to try to go to my normal body pump class.  If not, lifting at home again.

At least I'm now at 8/11 dog walks that I'll have to do this week - she gets walked in the morning and in the evening, 0.75-2 miles each.  So, I'm not getting stronger but I am at least getting sunshine for the morning walks, and I'm moving on a regular basis.

[oneday]

Biking did not happen, nothing has happened for 3 days.  I'm falling back to running tomorrow, since that has few barriers (in my mind) and I like being outdoors on the course near home.  To remove barriers to biking, I'll check the inflation of the bike tires tomorrow, maybe leave the bike in the living room overnight for Thursday.

Short bike ride & a long walk today! Yay! Maybe another bike ride tomorrow, as today I dropped my car at the shop & rode home.  But they are not done with the car yet...

If not, then a nice walk tomorrow, yoga & walking Saturday & maaaaaaybe I can motivate myself to go to the workout class on Sunday.  But it's so early *whine*

[APowers]

Goal #pushups: I just did 60 in intervals of 35/rest/15/rest/10. So that's a definite personal best.

Goal #flexibility: I can allllllllmost touch my toes now, which is a huge improvement over "just below the hems of my crew socks". My posture is noticeable straighter now, and I can also better tell which muscles are likely the injured ones that need the most help.

Goal #swimming: after watching still more youtube videos, I tried turning my head earlier to breathe, and that seems to be working much better. Also, it seems counterintuitively easier to swim faster than slower; not faster stroke rate, but faster actual speed. Swimming the length of the pool at a slower speed was just as much of a chore, only with more breaths that needed to be taken, while swimming faster seems to not only "feel" better, but also make it easier to catch those breaths. Did 4 lengths of the 100ft pool in ~2:30, which works out to about 2:05/100m, which seems "not terrible" based on the internet. Also, I swam four lengths of the pool!

[sui generis]

Goal #pushups: I just did 60 in intervals of 35/rest/15/rest/10. So that's a definite personal best.

Goal #flexibility: I can allllllllmost touch my toes now, which is a huge improvement over "just below the hems of my crew socks". My posture is noticeable straighter now, and I can also better tell which muscles are likely the injured ones that need the most help.

Goal #swimming: after watching still more youtube videos, I tried turning my head earlier to breathe, and that seems to be working much better. Also, it seems counterintuitively easier to swim faster than slower; not faster stroke rate, but faster actual speed. Swimming the length of the pool at a slower speed was just as much of a chore, only with more breaths that needed to be taken, while swimming faster seems to not only "feel" better, but also make it easier to catch those breaths. Did 4 lengths of the 100ft pool in ~2:30, which works out to about 2:05/100m, which seems "not terrible" based on the internet. Also, I swam four lengths of the pool!

Congrats!  I bet swimming faster is easier because you are sinking less as you go.  Less effort to stay on top, although balanced with the increased effort of the speed. 

I'm feeling better than I had been about making some progress.  I'm adding protein to shakes and stuff right after hard workouts again, but it's only been about 1.5 weeks so I think it may be my imagination that it's helping me.  Also, this morning, I got up early and worked out right away, like I used to when I worked.  This is the best for me. Since retiring, I like to wake up slowly and lounge in bed reading for a bit, then I have to eat because I'm super hungry, then have to wait a while to work out...and all that doesn't seem to add up to as much energy and stamina for my workouts as just jumping straight into it.  I really hate that I have to sacrifice my lazy mornings, but it looks like that is really the best answer.

[mm1970]

Goal #pushups: I just did 60 in intervals of 35/rest/15/rest/10. So that's a definite personal best.

Goal #flexibility: I can allllllllmost touch my toes now, which is a huge improvement over "just below the hems of my crew socks". My posture is noticeable straighter now, and I can also better tell which muscles are likely the injured ones that need the most help.

Goal #swimming: after watching still more youtube videos, I tried turning my head earlier to breathe, and that seems to be working much better. Also, it seems counterintuitively easier to swim faster than slower; not faster stroke rate, but faster actual speed. Swimming the length of the pool at a slower speed was just as much of a chore, only with more breaths that needed to be taken, while swimming faster seems to not only "feel" better, but also make it easier to catch those breaths. Did 4 lengths of the 100ft pool in ~2:30, which works out to about 2:05/100m, which seems "not terrible" based on the internet. Also, I swam four lengths of the pool!

Sweet!!
2:30 for 100yd (2 laps in my pool), is basically my PB.

[Eucalyptus]

Ok so I got a bit sick (Rhinovirus, nothing serious) so had a few days of rest. Still recovering. But got cabin fever so did some exercise tonight, with a focus on the Simple & Sinister Kettlebell routine/challenge of Pavel Tsatsouline mentioned up-thread.


-45mins powerwalk to get started.
-A few warm up reps of KBs with my 16kg and 32kg bells.
-10*10 single arm KB Swings 16kg, 5 mins (using a timer to keep each set starting on 30seconds). Not too bad.
-60 seconds rest.
-10*10 KB Swings (two armed) 32kg, 5 mins, same timing. This was hard. Its the most reps I've ever done in a session by far with the 32kg bell... sets 8, 9, 10 were a serious challenge, and I finished set 10 right on the bell, my grip strength only just made it. There were some serious grunts...I'm sure the neighbours heard. My forearms were toast afterwards...I couldn't close my hands!
-Few minutes rest, walking around.
-10 Turkish Get-ups with 16kg, 3mins 14 seconds. Really happy with this especially considering the grip strength pump from the swings.


I definitely need to up my grip strength. But this was very positive and I'm so glad I did it. I think after a 5-10 sessions of training, I should be able to do the swings with the 32kg bell (10*10 single arm in 5 mins). The Turkish get-ups are definitely going to take longer and I'll want to be very confident before I attempt the full challenge with the get ups starting only a minute after the swings... losing grip strength with a 32kg bell above my head is dangerous.

[sui generis]

Great progress today!  I did an upper body decreasing rep/increasing weight routine, which is typically hard for me at home because I don't have a good enough variety of weights to increase my weights incrementally, especially for the smaller upper body muscles.  But, I pushed hard and did 6 reps of weight I've never done for a lot of exercises.  One thing that helped was that my husband is home and I got him to come spot me on the chest press.  Turns out I could easily do the highest weight...but it was good to have him help get the dumbbells into my hands, which is much harder than actually pressing them, especially when I have a small kitty that likes to lick my hair and sniff my armpits and I worry about dropping them on her.  Anyway, with a better technique for getting positioned with the dumbbells (I don't have a bench, I'm just on a mat on the ground) I could definitely regularly do 8 or more reps.

Someone here previously suggested getting some links of chain to add weight incrementally to my dumbbells.  And it is a great idea, but I wasn't sure how I'd attach anything like that to the dumbbells.  But I thought of magnets and it seemed like it would be so easy to maybe get two magnets that weigh one pound each and maybe a pair of 2lb....then I could get almost any combination of weight....but....this already exists and it's like $35-45 for just one pair of 1.25lb magnets!  Seems ridiculously expensive.  I guess I'm going to google a bit more and browse locally to see if I can't just find something at a hardware store or something.  Maybe it's relatively easy if one is just the tiniest bit mustachian.  But it's hard to believe I'd be able to find it for a few bucks if these fitness companies are selling them for $40.

EDIT: definitely finding some DIY posts on reddit, so when/if I am up for a project, there are options!

[horsepoor]

I over-simplified it actually. 32 kg is for men so, as a man, this is the goal I have to reach. For women, the goal is, IIRC, 24 kg for swings and 16 kg for TGU.

That's still a lot!  As a fairly strong, non-petite woman who has been training (albeit fairly casually) with KBs for several years, I use 12kg for 1-handed swings and TGUs.  I worked up to 16kg at one point, but no way would I try one-handed swings with 24.

Missed my Sunday workout and Tuesday run while fighting a cold.  Headed back to the gym tonight.

I agree it's a lot.  My coach just hit those numbers I think.  If the gym were still open, I bet I could hit it, but probably would take 6 months, assuming I was starting where I left off, which I'm not.

Well. Thanks to this thread I've been inspired to pick up the 16kg kettlebell my last couple times at the gym.  Last night I did 60 1-handed swings with it and 2x Turkish getups each side.  It felt good to push myself, then my usual 12kg bell felt so light after!  Still rocking the 11-minute miles on my 4-mile run Saturday.  But I think I've figured out a viable Sat/Sun, Tue/Thu workout schedule that will fit in around my riding and work schedule, at least until it gets too hot to run after work.

[Eucalyptus]

I over-simplified it actually. 32 kg is for men so, as a man, this is the goal I have to reach. For women, the goal is, IIRC, 24 kg for swings and 16 kg for TGU.

That's still a lot!  As a fairly strong, non-petite woman who has been training (albeit fairly casually) with KBs for several years, I use 12kg for 1-handed swings and TGUs.  I worked up to 16kg at one point, but no way would I try one-handed swings with 24.

Missed my Sunday workout and Tuesday run while fighting a cold.  Headed back to the gym tonight.

I agree it's a lot.  My coach just hit those numbers I think.  If the gym were still open, I bet I could hit it, but probably would take 6 months, assuming I was starting where I left off, which I'm not.

Well. Thanks to this thread I've been inspired to pick up the 16kg kettlebell my last couple times at the gym.  Last night I did 60 1-handed swings with it and 2x Turkish getups each side.  It felt good to push myself, then my usual 12kg bell felt so light after!  Still rocking the 11-minute miles on my 4-mile run Saturday.  But I think I've figured out a viable Sat/Sun, Tue/Thu workout schedule that will fit in around my riding and work schedule, at least until it gets too hot to run after work.

Great workout with the KBs, well done! :-)

[lexde]

Did HIIT yesterday and today to the tune of about 475cal burn each.

Yesterday was cardio, with some functional weights.
Today was flex core, which is also cardio with a lot of core-focused plyometrics and extra stretching at the end.

Both workouts were really good, I’m glad I switched from OTF. More rowing means my back is getting stronger too!

[Sailor Sam]

I’m holding steady, going to the gym each weekday after work. It feels good.

[lexde]

Great progress today!  I did an upper body decreasing rep/increasing weight routine, which is typically hard for me at home because I don't have a good enough variety of weights to increase my weights incrementally, especially for the smaller upper body muscles.  But, I pushed hard and did 6 reps of weight I've never done for a lot of exercises.  One thing that helped was that my husband is home and I got him to come spot me on the chest press.  Turns out I could easily do the highest weight...but it was good to have him help get the dumbbells into my hands, which is much harder than actually pressing them, especially when I have a small kitty that likes to lick my hair and sniff my armpits and I worry about dropping them on her.  Anyway, with a better technique for getting positioned with the dumbbells (I don't have a bench, I'm just on a mat on the ground) I could definitely regularly do 8 or more reps.

Someone here previously suggested getting some links of chain to add weight incrementally to my dumbbells.  And it is a great idea, but I wasn't sure how I'd attach anything like that to the dumbbells.  But I thought of magnets and it seemed like it would be so easy to maybe get two magnets that weigh one pound each and maybe a pair of 2lb....then I could get almost any combination of weight....but....this already exists and it's like $35-45 for just one pair of 1.25lb magnets!  Seems ridiculously expensive.  I guess I'm going to google a bit more and browse locally to see if I can't just find something at a hardware store or something.  Maybe it's relatively easy if one is just the tiniest bit mustachian.  But it's hard to believe I'd be able to find it for a few bucks if these fitness companies are selling them for $40.

EDIT: definitely finding some DIY posts on reddit, so when/if I am up for a project, there are options!

Can you get those nylon and Velcro wrist/ankle weights for walkers? You can just wrap them around the dumbbell handle!

[Zikoris]

Do any of you guys use the Nike Training Club app? I just downloaded it because it looks like they put together some nice fitness programs, and I'm just pretty bad at planning that stuff myself. I just started a four week program.. But I don't have any friends to follow :( Anyone want to be NTC pals?

[oneday]

Short bike ride & a long walk today! Yay! Maybe another bike ride tomorrow, as today I dropped my car at the shop & rode home.  But they are not done with the car yet...

If not, then a nice walk tomorrow, yoga & walking Saturday & maaaaaaybe I can motivate myself to go to the workout class on Sunday.  But it's so early *whine*

Yep, bike ride Friday, yoga Saturday, then it all kind of fell apart.  Saturday museum walking plans were cancelled, and I didn't find an alternative activity.  Kind of told myself that I'd rest up & make the early Sunday class, but that didn't happen.  Then Monday was enforced fast/rest for a medical test.  But, got back on the bike today for a ride 2x as long as last week.  It was fun!

I'm not kicking myself for the 2 days off, as the pain in my shoulderblade has finally decreased.  Originally I was thinking it was just stiff from being slept on wrong, but it went on so long I think it was some kind of strain.  It's feeling noticeably better today.  Hurray!  Maybe running tomorrow?

[Metalcat]

I went to the gym at 4pm yesterday and some of the New Year's guys who I thought had stopped going were there. I guess they've switched to the after-class shift instead of the morning shift.

I go at all different times, so I see the trends. Mid afternoon is the seniors.

[chaskavitch]

I am falling off the wagon. 

I've been keeping up with the spinning, but my lifting is suffering.  It's dang cold this week, and our squat rack is in the uninsulated garage, and I'm SUPER UNMOTIVATED to bundle up and work out at like 8:30 pm after putting the kids to bed.  I wake up at 5 am for work, so working out until 9:30ish sounds awful.  That's my only plan, though, and I don't know how to modify it at the moment. 

I suppose I could use our 16 kg kettlebell and try out some of the workouts y'all have been posting about in our living room.  Better than nothing, and it might actually get done :)

ETA - my Sunday fast day goal is going well, and 8k steps/day is mostly being hit.  Deadlift is up to 165 x 5, and I think as long as I keep at it the weight should increase fairly quickly.  So I guess overall I'm not doing terribly.  Today specifically I feel like I'm doing an awful job, since I skipped lifting last night and also ate a lot of cake at work. 

[Metalcat]

I am falling off the wagon. 

I've been keeping up with the spinning, but my lifting is suffering.  It's dang cold this week, and our squat rack is in the uninsulated garage, and I'm SUPER UNMOTIVATED to bundle up and work out at like 8:30 pm after putting the kids to bed.  I wake up at 5 am for work, so working out until 9:30ish sounds awful.  That's my only plan, though, and I don't know how to modify it at the moment. 

I suppose I could use our 16 kg kettlebell and try out some of the workouts y'all have been posting about in our living room.  Better than nothing, and it might actually get done :)

ETA - my Sunday fast day goal is going well, and 8k steps/day is mostly being hit.  Deadlift is up to 165 x 5, and I think as long as I keep at it the weight should increase fairly quickly.  So I guess overall I'm not doing terribly.  Today specifically I feel like I'm doing an awful job, since I skipped lifting last night and also ate a lot of cake at work.

Better than nothing is actually fantastic.
When I don't feel motivated, I'll do as little as 5 minutes of exercise, and I definitely like having something I can do in my living room.

Just doing something keeps the momentum going.

The other thing I do is focus on how I'll feel afterward. It's well researched that any amount of exercise will raise your endorphins, and if I'm feeling crappy, I crave that happy feeling like a drinker craves alcohol.

I read several studies that said that the most effective way to motivate yourself to eat well and exercise is to focus on the immediate benefit, since humans are TERRIBLE at being motivated by long term outcomes. So if I know that I can feel a lot better in 5 minutes, then I'm motivated to do those 5 minutes, which is enough to break the inertia, and then more often than not, the momentum takes over and I do a hell of a lot more than 5 minutes.

But the 5 minute promise is enough to get past the "Ugh...I don't feel like it right now"

[Metalcat]

I am falling off the wagon. 

I've been keeping up with the spinning, but my lifting is suffering.  It's dang cold this week, and our squat rack is in the uninsulated garage, and I'm SUPER UNMOTIVATED to bundle up and work out at like 8:30 pm after putting the kids to bed.  I wake up at 5 am for work, so working out until 9:30ish sounds awful.  That's my only plan, though, and I don't know how to modify it at the moment. 

I suppose I could use our 16 kg kettlebell and try out some of the workouts y'all have been posting about in our living room.  Better than nothing, and it might actually get done :)

ETA - my Sunday fast day goal is going well, and 8k steps/day is mostly being hit.  Deadlift is up to 165 x 5, and I think as long as I keep at it the weight should increase fairly quickly.  So I guess overall I'm not doing terribly.  Today specifically I feel like I'm doing an awful job, since I skipped lifting last night and also ate a lot of cake at work.

Better than nothing is actually fantastic.
When I don't feel motivated, I'll do as little as 5 minutes of exercise, and I definitely like having something I can do in my living room.

Just doing something keeps the momentum going.

The other thing I do is focus on how I'll feel afterward. It's well researched that any amount of exercise will raise your endorphins, and if I'm feeling crappy, I crave that happy feeling like a drinker craves alcohol.

I read several studies that said that the most effective way to motivate yourself to eat well and exercise is to focus on the immediate benefit, since humans are TERRIBLE at being motivated by long term outcomes. So if I know that I can feel a lot better in 5 minutes, then I'm motivated to do those 5 minutes, which is enough to break the inertia, and then more often than not, the momentum takes over and I do a hell of a lot more than 5 minutes.

But the 5 minute promise is enough to get past the "Ugh...I don't feel like it right now"

[Eucalyptus]

Ok so tonight I could make it into the gym after my long nursing shift.


Walked there and back (5km total).


Deadlifted a few heavy reps up to 140kg. Didn't have it in me to go heavier after a long day.


But then I thought screw it.


So I got the 24kg kettlebell, the heaviest the gym has (I have 16 and 32kg at home), and did the Simple program (mentioned above, but its 10*10 single arm KB swings in five minutes, one min rest, then 10 KB turkish get ups each min for ten minutes) on a timer, successfully. Bearing in mind its 32kg to achieve "Simple" status but I was pretty happy with it. Actually I was really happy with how well I managed the Turkish Get ups at that weight. I was tired, and there were times where I would wobble a bit...but I more than had it in my shoulders to correct the wobble without undue strain and complete the movement. Grip strength was also no issue.


I'll keep plugging away at this for sure :-)

[APowers]

Some days I feel like trying to swim is mostly just drowning in motion. But yesterday's swim felt like I was much more relaxed and able to catch my breaths relatively easily. I think it's just practice getting the timing of my face out of the water at the exact right moment. I should be back in the pool today, and we'll see if any of that stuck, lol! I'm hoping that if I keep getting the timing right, I'll be able to focus on keeping my head down more, and keep my legs from sinking as much.

One thing I never realized about swimming is how much balancing is involved. Getting the balance on the "roll" axis so I don't under or over-rotate, getting the balance on the "pitch" axis so I can swim flat and level instead of constantly clawing my way up toward the surface, and trying not to rotate on the "yaw" axis so that I'm actually swimming straight and not drunk-driving all over the lane.

[horsepoor]

I suppose I could use our 16 kg kettlebell and try out some of the workouts y'all have been posting about in our living room.  Better than nothing, and it might actually get done :)

There used to be a 100 KB Swings per day challenge going here.  That's how I actually got started on my typical 100 swings gym day warmup.  Like @Malkynn says, getting started is the hardest part, and also, just doing a bit of something is so much better than nothing.  I also wouldn't want to work out until 9:30 if I had to be up at 5.  I need some time to wind down between exercise and going to bed, unless it's something like relaxing yoga.

Ran 3 miles last night at 10:34 pace.  A whole 3 seconds faster than last week's 3 miler, which I'm happy about considering I was over the 11:00 mark again for my 4 mile run on Saturday.

[Engineer93]

Going to join this thread!  I set a new years resolution to exercise more (like everyone) but am staying motivated by signing up for my first triathalon come April.  I was a swimmer growing up and within the last 10 years have been running half marathons.  The race is 1 mile swim, 24 mile bike and a 6 mile run.  Trying to alternate legs (bike, run, weightlifting) and arms (swimming, weightlifting) every other day 5-6 days a week.  Yesterday I swam 2.5 miles and I've been running 6 miles one day each weekend.  Really need to work on the bike as that is by far my weakest link but I've gotten up to 17 miles so far.

[Sailor Sam]

I skipped the gym today, because my schedule was out of whack and because I couldn’t motivate myself.

If I don’t report back tomorrow as being back on schedule, someone better prod me. Once is fine, twice is the beginning of the slide.

[Metalcat]

Yesterday was an hour of physio, Pilates, and a 5km walk.
I'm overdoing something to my back though, and I can't figure out what the culprit is.

[mm1970]

I skipped the gym today, because my schedule was out of whack and because I couldn’t motivate myself.

If I don’t report back tomorrow as being back on schedule, someone better prod me. Once is fine, twice is the beginning of the slide.

I'm on it.  I did zero yesterday.  Usually I at least either walk the dog or go for a walk on Weds.  Then I sat in 5 hours of meetings.

Today I felt like doing not much, but did a short 2.2 mile run (!2:00 mile today, lots of walk breaks) and took the dog for a very short walk too.

Every little bit counts.

[tyrannostache]

Fitness! Goals! 2020!

I'm a little late to the party on goals. One of my goals for 2019 was just to make space in my life for fitness. I met that goal by actually scheduling in midday workouts 3x/week. Making these a priority has been a game-changer for me, though I didn't really get there until about September. I had to give myself permission to carve out that time during the work day, even if it means I can only lift for 30 minutes some days. I also took up running again and had some glorious trail runs through the summer and fall. On workdays, I try to alternate between lifting at the gym and walking/running outside.

We joined a new gym and that has also led to good changes. While it's more expensive, it has windows that let in sunshine. It has abundant squat racks. The pools work for the whole family so we have a place to go play and be active when it's -10. I have always scoffed at the proliferation of ellipticals and other weird machines, but when I injured my foot in November, the wide variety of machines allowed me to keep up my gym habit while I was healing. I will never go back to the cheap, dark, basement gym where I was always waiting for bros to be done with the rack.

For the last couple of months, I've been building my workouts around squats, bench, and deadlifts. I'm almost back to my pre-baby maxes. I'm back to "novice" standards, on my way to "intermediate"! I'll take it.

Best of all, I'm starting to feel strong again. So my goal for 2020 is to keep this up. To keep lifting, to keep moving. Next month, I want to get back to running, too. 

A non-quantifiable fitness victory happened last Wednesday. I was prepping for long offsite meetings later in the week, so I allowed myself an extra-long workout on Weds. After a last set of big, heavy KB swings (60lb), Certifiable Gym Bro stopped by just to high-5 and say "Wow, you're really getting after it today! Great job!"

[APowers]

Old lady at the YMCA: "Can I share the lane with you?"
Me: "Absolutely. I'm not too good of a swimmer, so..."
Her: "Neither am I, *lol* I'll try not to kick you."

Me: *swims a length and back, slowly and carefully* ( I think my slow/careful pace is about 3 min/100m at this point, though I'm not super confident I can do more than that all at once without getting out of breath)

Her: "You swim fine!"

Me internally: *wow, a compliment!*

[Eucalyptus]

I suppose I could use our 16 kg kettlebell and try out some of the workouts y'all have been posting about in our living room.  Better than nothing, and it might actually get done :)

There used to be a 100 KB Swings per day challenge going here.  That's how I actually got started on my typical 100 swings gym day warmup.  Like @Malkynn says, getting started is the hardest part, and also, just doing a bit of something is so much better than nothing.

 


There's a lot to be said for doing 100KB swings. 16kg is plenty. I'm really stoked at how much I get out of 10*10 reps of KB swings. Get a simple timer app on your phone, give yourself somewhere between 30 and 60 seconds a set...you'll finish in 15-20 seconds usually then the rest of the set is rest. You'll be warm at the end of that; very easy to value add with some goblet squats (a couple at the end of each swing set works great too), a couple of turkish get-ups, and/or do some farmers walks. Honestly if most people did this a couple of times a week, maybe went for a walk, cut down alcohol to a glass a week, avoided smoking, ate vegetables and some whole grains and beans every day, we had a tax on sugar (its been proposed by lots in the health industry and a few politicians) the health system in Australia would be a small fraction of the size of what it currently is.


They should teach this stuff starting in kindergarten.

[tyrannostache]

I suppose I could use our 16 kg kettlebell and try out some of the workouts y'all have been posting about in our living room.  Better than nothing, and it might actually get done :)

There used to be a 100 KB Swings per day challenge going here.  That's how I actually got started on my typical 100 swings gym day warmup.  Like @Malkynn says, getting started is the hardest part, and also, just doing a bit of something is so much better than nothing.

There's a lot to be said for doing 100KB swings. 16kg is plenty. I'm really stoked at how much I get out of 10*10 reps of KB swings. Get a simple timer app on your phone, give yourself somewhere between 30 and 60 seconds a set...you'll finish in 15-20 seconds usually then the rest of the set is rest. You'll be warm at the end of that; very easy to value add with some goblet squats (a couple at the end of each swing set works great too), a couple of turkish get-ups, and/or do some farmers walks. Honestly if most people did this a couple of times a week, maybe went for a walk, cut down alcohol to a glass a week, avoided smoking, ate vegetables and some whole grains and beans every day, we had a tax on sugar (its been proposed by lots in the health industry and a few politicians) the health system in Australia would be a small fraction of the size of what it currently is.


They should teach this stuff starting in kindergarten.

Something went weird with your font size!

That's a great simple workout suggestion. I love love love kettlebell swings. They make my hamstrings and glutes feel so strong.

[sui generis]

I played pickleball today with a friend while on a trip to Seattle.  It was fun!  I'm terrible at all competitive sports so I didn't expect to actually be good, but maybe it's something I could be good at?  It was a decent workout - I hardly do exercise like that anymore, since I focus on HIIT so much.  This was like I didn't even realize my heart rate was up a bit and rarely breathed hard, but it was good movement and light-medium cardio.  I'm sure the pros are working a lot harder.  I probably won't have time to try to get into this this year, but maybe for the Fitness 2021 thread, I'll pursue pickleball.

@Sailor Sam I hope you got back to it yesterday!

[Sailor Sam]

I skipped the gym today, because my schedule was out of whack and because I couldn’t motivate myself.

If I don’t report back tomorrow as being back on schedule, someone better prod me. Once is fine, twice is the beginning of the slide.

I'm on it.  I did zero yesterday.  Usually I at least either walk the dog or go for a walk on Weds.  Then I sat in 5 hours of meetings.

Today I felt like doing not much, but did a short 2.2 mile run (!2:00 mile today, lots of walk breaks) and took the dog for a very short walk too.

Every little bit counts.

I’m happy to report that I went to the gym Thurs and Fri, and plan to go Sat as my makeup day. All is well.

[horsepoor]

@Sailor Sam  glad to hear you are back at it!

Fell of my horse this morning thanks to some Canada geese taking flight, but not too sore.  Got a short workout in tonight and just felt a little tight in my right ribs.  Should be fine tomorrow.

[Eucalyptus]

Something went weird with your font size!

That's a great simple workout suggestion. I love love love kettlebell swings. They make my hamstrings and glutes feel so strong.

No kidding! I just worked out how to fix it...I must have accidentally bumped it when I posted haha

[Eucalyptus]

Its 2230 here in Adelaide, have my little girl in bed. Tomorrow morning we'll do some exercise post breakfast... I'll get her praticing riding her bike in the carpark of our block of units, lots of laps, I'll have the timer going and do a heap of KB work. She likes the ding of the timer... she has to practise using her brakes and stopping when it dings haha.


This weekend; get after it Moustachians!

[chaskavitch]

Lifted on Saturday - dead lift is up to 175 x 5 for 3 sets, so not terribly shabby.  I tried out a few 16kg kb swings for a warm up.  Those are rough!  I'll have to practice my form for those. 

Our squat rack is in our garage, and our garage door has west-facing windows on the top.  When I work out during the day on Saturday, I get to look out the windows at the mountains between sets, and it is so awesome. 

It turns out biking is like a thousand times harder when your quads are sore, so my 20 minutes of stationary bike last night was lacking in sprints, but I still did it.  My side goal is to finish Friends, haha.  At ~ 1.5 episodes/bike session, with 3 seasons left...it's going to keep me busy for a while :)

[scottish]

Ok so tonight I could make it into the gym after my long nursing shift.


Walked there and back (5km total).


Deadlifted a few heavy reps up to 140kg. Didn't have it in me to go heavier after a long day.


But then I though screw it.


So I got the 24kg kettlebell, the heaviest the gym has (I have 16 and 32kg at home), and did the Simple program (mentioned above, but its 10*10 single arm KB swings in five minutes, one min rest, then 10 KB turkish get ups each min for ten minutes) on a timer, successfully. Bearing in mind its 32kg to achieve "Simple" status but I was pretty happy with it. Actually I was really happy with how well I managed the Turkish Get ups at that weight. I was tired, and there were times where I would wobble a bit...but I more than had it in my shoulders to correct the wobble without undue strain and complete the movement. Grip strength was also no issue.


I'll keep plugging away at this for sure :-)

Hey, are you saying you can do 10 getups in a minute?    I usually take about 15 seconds per rep and that's with 12 or 16 kg.

It's a really great exercise.   It fixed my rotator cuff problems.

[Metalcat]

Was going to hit the gym today, but my old dog seems to have had a nervous breakdown, so instead I took him for a very very long walk (for him, he's 6lbs, very short legs).

He's sleeping now, thank god. May need to focus on walks more to keep his insanity in check.

[Eucalyptus]

Ok so tonight I could make it into the gym after my long nursing shift.


Walked there and back (5km total).


Deadlifted a few heavy reps up to 140kg. Didn't have it in me to go heavier after a long day.


But then I though screw it.


So I got the 24kg kettlebell, the heaviest the gym has (I have 16 and 32kg at home), and did the Simple program (mentioned above, but its 10*10 single arm KB swings in five minutes, one min rest, then 10 KB turkish get ups each min for ten minutes) on a timer, successfully. Bearing in mind its 32kg to achieve "Simple" status but I was pretty happy with it. Actually I was really happy with how well I managed the Turkish Get ups at that weight. I was tired, and there were times where I would wobble a bit...but I more than had it in my shoulders to correct the wobble without undue strain and complete the movement. Grip strength was also no issue.


I'll keep plugging away at this for sure :-)

Hey, are you saying you can do 10 getups in a minute?    I usually take about 15 seconds per rep and that's with 12 or 16 kg.

It's a really great exercise.   It fixed my rotator cuff problems.

Oops no. Ten minutes = ten get ups. Using a timer. Though I can do them much faster than that with a KB that's not near my max... eg 16kg I can do ten in about three minutes or so continuously.


Definitely agree on the shoulders... it seems to be the ducks guts of shoulder exercises. I've recommended it to a few young Nurses lately to try and help prevent them getting a shoulder injury (as well of course as following all the manual handling guidelines... shoulder injuries have over taken back injuries for Nurses in Australia in recent years)

[mm1970]

All these TGU and KB swings post, and y'all are going to make me buy the 12 kg and the 16 kg and get back into KB work (since my KB gym shut down.  The YMCA doesn't have any and I'm pretty sure 24 hour fitness does, but I never go.)

I kept up my workouts on the four-day (for the kids, so I took off) weekend, even with MIL visiting.  Friday Body Pump, Sat 5 mile trail/ beach/ road run (I really had only planned on 4), Sunday short hike, Monday Body Pump.  We had a sub in Monday's class, and she teaches a Sunday yoga-type class, so I think I'm going to try that out.

[scottish]

KBs are really practical for a minimal home gym.   Inexpensive, easy to store and you get a reasonable functional strength workout...

[Eucalyptus]

Agree, they are super practical. They practically ooze Moustachianism. KBs should come with a Moustache cast into them already.


If you've done some KB work before I would jump straight to the 16kg bell, skip the 12kg. You can find ways to build up a bit more strength in order to work with the 16kg if you aren't already there.


Turkish Get-Ups, work on...

• perfect get up form using say a 2L bottle with handle filled with water (like a cordial bottle),
• do some push ups and push up variations, do some military presses. Feet elevated pushup variations work well for me. Walk your hands out to start and finish your pushups.
• When you go to 16kg (or the next weight up), don't stress about completing a full Turkish Get-Up... start from the bottom and practise that initial roll-press.

Swings, work on...

• grip strength. Farmers walks with the same KB. Find something heavier (literally anything) to farmers walk with as well.
• Core Strength. Do some planks. These days people like Dan John, Pavel Tsatsouline, Prof Stuart McGill say to just hold planks for sets of 10 seconds.
• Practise deadlifting the bell many many times.

I'm using some of these techniques at the moment to build myself up towards the 32kg Simple and Sinister target...Gym has 24kg, I have a 16kg and 32kg (I can do it with 24kg no worries). I could go and buy a 28kg KB. But that wouldn't be the Moustachian thing to do. Also, Pavel Tsatsouline and the Russians would agree... they think its better to try go up in bigger jumps where possible (rather than using puny half kg etc plates on your barbell, etc).

[horsepoor]

KBs are really practical for a minimal home gym.   Inexpensive, easy to store and you get a reasonable functional strength workout...

Totally.  They might be about the most Mustachian workout.  I've been known to take my 25# bell with me when I travel by car for work.  My coworkers are used to my weirdness for the most part by now.

[horsepoor]

Fought off the inertia and did my run this afternoon.  Since I was feeling so sluggish, I took more frequent walk breaks, but did the running intervals faster.  It felt good to be back at the 9:00 mile range, which is a good cruising speed for me when I'm in shape.  Of course it was only for about 1/4-1/3 mile at a time, but gave me some motivation to keep working at it.

[mm1970]

Last week was a banner week - only thing that I didn't do (and know how to) is bike! (Shh...don't tell MMM)
Monday - Body Pump (weights)
Tuesday - Track (run) - 400s and 800s
Wednesday - Walk
Thursday - Swim (short, I was sucking up water by 25 minutes).
Friday - Body Pump
Saturday - skipped the morning run - was having side pain, like nerve pain?  Ended up going for a walk with husband and dog.  Pain gone by 11.
Then during kid's swim lessons, decided to try a Zumba class.  Haven't done one in FOREVER - 5 years? 8 years?  Last time I did, blew out a knee from the twisting.  But it was a ton of fun, and if I can move like that in my 60s like a few of the other ladies in the class...

Sunday - did the long run (eh, 4.6 miles, not too long) and then tried out a Body Flow class (yoga/ Pilates/ Tai Chi).  It was great and my hamstrings are soooo tight.

Good thing I did all that because spouse is traveling a lot in March, meaning mostly dog walks and some weights at home.  Too hard to do all the kid drop offs, pick ups, dog walks, and ft job...

[Fru-Gal]

I am down 8 lbs since November!!!

I think I have deprogrammed my brain from late night snacking (should be careful about boasting about that, have a tendency to rebound when I get cocky).

I used Noom and the behavior change model I found extremely effective. I learned a lot about food tracking.

No longer paying for Noom but still using the weight tracker -- haven't been food tracking religiously since I stopped paying for it. But I really like their tracker, it motivates me with the green/yellow/red categorization of food (green is low calorie density, whole food).

Potentially I could start tracking on paper, but I *think* I have broken the craving cycle.

I still treat myself and overeat occasionally, but I also think my stomach has shrunk back to a normal size, because overeating now feels really uncomfortable. I live in a household of giant men who eat as much and as fast as possible. However as always actions speak louder than words and now one son is noticing my success and is eating better.

Also running 4x a week and doing bodyweight exercises.  Also occasionally doing a simulated goblet squat holding a 25 lb. weight plate since I don't have kettlebells.

Keep working out people, I get motivated by your posts!