Author Topic: Strength & Fitness 2016  (Read 402227 times)

monstermonster

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #150 on: January 06, 2016, 10:45:08 AM »
I'm looking for suggestions of motivation/habit-building with stretching.

Since I stopped being a high-level competitive athlete (dancer) I have struggled with keeping up with stretching because I find it boring. I'll strength train/do stairs/jog/bike til the cows come home, but stretching is my albatross.
I know what to do to get flexible again (see above 10 years of competitive sport that required me to be very flexible) but there's no "natural consequences" to not stretching so it's not a habit anymore. As a dancer, you can't perform without stretching 45 minutes to an hour each day. That meant I stretched. Now I can pretty much "do" everything I need, except, you know, bend in half and pull my foot up past my head like I used to. I want to be able to do that again!

I'm now I've tried everything to trick myself into stretching but nothing is working. I'm not making it better by doing 30 minutes of stairs twice a week and running 10 miles a week without stretching after. Like I was motivated enough to go to a 6AM circuit class today, and then I failed to stretch at all after because I wanted to get home for breakfast. Any suggestions? Here's my thoughts:

1) I used to use Beeminder to charge myself $5 if I didn't stretch. It didn't work very well. I ended up paying out and canceled the goal. Beeminder has worked for almost everything else I use it for, just not that.
2) Maybe publicly posting stretching progress photos every week so people can shame me into stretching?
3) Linking stretching to some sort of "candy" reward like watching tv/listening to podcasts each day while I stretch
4) Shelling out obscene amounts of money to go to a Barre class each month (this is ~$100/month) so that I HAVE to stretch - someone will just walk me through an hour of stretching 4 times a week. As a former dancer, this really appeals to me but the cost is absurdly high.

Anyone have any other suggestions? Or ways to make these work?

monstermonster

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #151 on: January 06, 2016, 11:27:24 AM »
What about a reward cheaper than $100/mo for doing it at home with a podcast? i.e., You do it at home with the thing that makes you able to, then reward yourself $50/mo which you can spend on your favouritest things (bath bombs, new clothing item, movie out, new music, whatever).
I'm pretty good at both photo/public shaming projects. I posted a picture of everything I bought for all of last year, so just stretching is probably even easier because the volume of photos would be less. The downside is I'd have to set up a tripod to do it instead of using my phone...

I've considered that but I'm frugal enough I don't really have any "treats" that cost money that I don't already give myself that *aren't* fitness - my biggest splurges already budgeted for or are free (library). I spend $40/month on cocktail ingredients/beer for home as my big splurge, but it would cause WWIII with my SO if I linked that to my ability to stretch, as cocktails are a joint splurge/hobby...
(!!!) But come to think of it, it would mean he would make me stretch every day if he knew I wouldn't stock up on Campari... That might actually work. Social shaming PLUS reward/treat and saving $$ on barre classes. This has me thinking...


hudsoncat

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #152 on: January 06, 2016, 02:34:29 PM »

Once again (assuming I did it the first time), if you know of any resources (including Apple Apps - that is completely out of my wheelhouse) please let me know and I'll get them added to the resource post. And as that post expands, it will get copied and added each year.

I recently rediscovered Google Fit, which in turn reminded me of some other apps that I've used that are useful. I've added those to the resource post as well.

Here are a couple Apps I use that work on Apple and I believe are Android available as well. Both have paid versions, but I've only used the free versions:

Loseit!: same idea as MyFitnessPal, but slightly different metrics for calories crunching. For me, I liked the interface better than MFP at the time we started using it to track calories.

Runkeeper:useful for tracking mileage for running, cycling, walking, whatever cardio you are doing. Distance, time, etc. For me, the real win for Runkeeper was being able to program intervals into it when I started running. When I started Couch to 5K (C25K) there was not a free app (there is now!) and Runkeeper allowed me to plug in the intervals for my workout. It's a very nice app and has a nice social aspect if you choose to use it.

Have not used:

C25K: If you are thinking about taking up running, Couch to 5K is a nice program. You can find different versions of it online/in app form. MY cousin recently used an app (apple) literally called C25K (first one in the app store) for free that he really liked.

Jon_Snow

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #153 on: January 06, 2016, 02:42:13 PM »
Can people do that caliper thing themselves, or would that make it inaccurate?

I bought one (calliper) at my local GNC outlet...it's pretty easy to do yourself, though sometimes Lady Snow gets the urge to pinch my SUPRAILLIAC (thats what they call it!) skin fold and she will do the measurement. She IS a scientist after all. :)

I do question the accuracy of it though...if you measure half an inch different either way, you can get a 2% different result. If you really concentrate on measuring the SAME AREA, you can at least get a good sense of your progress.

monstermonster

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #154 on: January 06, 2016, 02:50:01 PM »
For the resource post:

I can't begin to sing the praises of Beeminder enough. It’s a combination of quantified self and behavioral economics. Essentially, you tell it what you want to do, and if you don’t work towards those goals in a systematic way, it’ll charge you money. It’s helpful in that you don’t have to worry about whether or not you’re making progress on a goal, because Beeminder will tell you if you’re off track. It autolinks to a bunch of other things mentioned in the resources list - like Runkeeper and Strava and Fitbit.

At the moment, I get charged $5 by Beeminder if I don’t average 10,000 steps a day and average 7 hours of sleep a night (this is an average, so I can make up the time over the week – 9 hours one night, 6 the next is okay in the end.) If I get really behind, I can actually say “I have to go to bed by 8:30 or take a long walk at lunch otherwise I get charged $5″. This helps with making sure I’m on top of my sleep hygiene and daily steps. And I don’t need to do anything special because they’re integrated automatically!

I use the Moves App on my phone to track all of my biking, walking, and running. This is a really fabulous app that not only has a great algorithm to figure out what mode of transportation you’re using, but keeps GPS tracks of where you’ve been that are really nice and easy to read as a timeline of your day.

If you like a "carrot" as well as a "stick", I also use Gympact, which is like Beeminder except it also pays YOU if you work out, and takes money if you don't. It integrates with runkeeper, moves, and a lot of other things. I set the amount of times a week I plan to work out, and Gym Pact uses data from Runkeeper to determine if I’ve worked out enough. It only counts one workout per day, and the time spent exercising must be greater than 30 minutes. At the end of the week, if I haven’t met my goal, I get charged $5 for each day I missed. If I meet my goal, I get paid out a sum of money from the other people who didn’t meet their goal. Usually it’s around $1.25-$1.50 a week. I've been using it for 2 years and I've earned about $60 off of it.

Friar

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #155 on: January 06, 2016, 02:51:03 PM »
Although it's not part of my goals for this year today I did my first ever session of yoga.

We got an email through at work today reminding us of our employer's scheme that provides ~£200 a year to be used for learning/self improvement courses. There are all sorts of rules as to what you can and can't spend it on, and whether or not you have to pay tax on top, but it essentially boils down to if it's a measurable improvement in a life skill then it's all gravy. Learning to ride a motorbike, a new language, or sessions with a physical trainer? Good. Carte blanche gym membership, money to spend on a date with a foreign language speaker, or a new set of spinning rims for your pushbike? Bad. Oddly enough, skydiving counts as a legit use of the funds.

In previous years I've used my allowance to learn how to snowboard, ride a motorbike, and fail my motorbike test (twice). This year I was contemplating having lessons in Russian (русский!) but the languages already on the approved supplier list of courses that can be done on our lunch break didn't include any. I suppose it's generally Russians learning English than the other way around!

As I'd have to go out of my way to find a tutor I decided to look at what else was available. In part due to this thread providing a poke in the ribs to be more active and in part due to my overall lack of flexibility my eyes fell upon the listing for local yoga classes. Excellent I thought, Suitable for beginners, within cycling distance from home, and at a time I can make.

The full amount offered by my employer would have qualified me for 20 sessions to be taken, at will, throughout a 12 month period. I figured that rather than pay the full whack up front I'd go to a taster sessions to see if: a) I enjoyed it, and b) whether I could see myself going to 20 classes.

I'm not sure how familiar any of you are with yoga, but I can say that the extent of my knowledge was that it originated in India and that my pitiful attempts at downward facing dog are laughable. I had no notion there were different styles; none at all. As I discovered upon arrival, this particular studio practiced a certain system know as Bikram Yoga.

To fill those in who are as clueless as I was, Bikram Yoga is a take on the traditional hatha yoga (thanks Wikipedia!). Sounds good so far. In 40˚C heat. Wut?. For 90 minutes. Oh holy hell.

According to the instructor, the aim of the first session is to just make it through the full hour and a half without passing out.

The first 30 minutes was uncomfortable but bearable. The last hour was extremely tough! I had sweat pouring out of every inch of skin, and my towel was soaked. It was made worse by the fact that we were "advised" to only drink water in the allotted time slots every half hour. This I learnt upon reaching for my bottle during a forbidden section and feeling the wrath of the yogi(?).

I can say that emerged triumphant! I feel about 3 stone lighter and have a slight headache (more hydration required beforehand methinks) but I made it through. Badass if I say so myself.

The moves were OK to perform as they generally had levels of progression. There are some (read: all) areas of my body that require work, in particular stability and stamina, but I got a few approving nods from the instructor. Which being British shows I've done a really good job.

Will I be going back? Yes. I paid for a 30 day unlimited pass as it only twice what a drop in session cost, so for the next month I need to get my money's worth. After that, depending on how I feel, I might utilise my employer's scheme. Alternatively, I could try a different yoga style and see whether that's more to my taste.









Friar

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #156 on: January 06, 2016, 03:07:48 PM »
If you like a "carrot" as well as a "stick", I also use Gympact, which is like Beeminder except it also pays YOU if you work out, and takes money if you don't. It integrates with runkeeper, moves, and a lot of other things. I set the amount of times a week I plan to work out, and Gym Pact uses data from Runkeeper to determine if I’ve worked out enough. It only counts one workout per day, and the time spent exercising must be greater than 30 minutes. At the end of the week, if I haven’t met my goal, I get charged $5 for each day I missed. If I meet my goal, I get paid out a sum of money from the other people who didn’t meet their goal. Usually it’s around $1.25-$1.50 a week. I've been using it for 2 years and I've earned about $60 off of it.

Another Pact member, awesome!

They also offer money for other goals, or "Pacts", such as food logging and eating fruit/veg. I've been using it for about a year now and only missed one of my "Pacts". Occasionally, there will be a technical error and my veg/workout/food log doest count but provided you report any problems the Pact team hold off on charging you until it's resolved. Out of the few problems I've had I've not once been charged as they are pretty on the ball.

Last week I earned $4.06 for 7 workouts, 7 days of food logging and 20 photos of me eating fruit/veggies.

Friar

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #157 on: January 06, 2016, 03:11:43 PM »
My first session of Bikram was AMAZING.
My next two were horrible: I was close to puking, other people did puke, very hard to recover from symptoms.
My second set of three sessions -a few years later- were Awesome Sauce. Absolutely loved it.
Many people blamed the carpet in the first studio.
I don't know about that, but I'm confident cumulative dehydration over several sessions was an issue. The studios said nothing about that. By the second time, I had talked to people and knew to prep against that before and between sessions.

It's definitely an acquired taste.

I can see how people get dehydrated given the amount you sweat out and I imagine if you're going multiple times in a week then you need to be very conscious of keeping properly hydrated.

The studio I was at today had fancy hypo-allergenic flooring. I never knew that was a consideration but, as my earlier post stated, there are many things I don't know!!

monstermonster

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #158 on: January 06, 2016, 03:27:24 PM »
If you like a "carrot" as well as a "stick", I also use Gympact, which is like Beeminder except it also pays YOU if you work out, and takes money if you don't. It integrates with runkeeper, moves, and a lot of other things. I set the amount of times a week I plan to work out, and Gym Pact uses data from Runkeeper to determine if I’ve worked out enough. It only counts one workout per day, and the time spent exercising must be greater than 30 minutes. At the end of the week, if I haven’t met my goal, I get charged $5 for each day I missed. If I meet my goal, I get paid out a sum of money from the other people who didn’t meet their goal. Usually it’s around $1.25-$1.50 a week. I've been using it for 2 years and I've earned about $60 off of it.

Another Pact member, awesome!

They also offer money for other goals, or "Pacts", such as food logging and eating fruit/veg. I've been using it for about a year now and only missed one of my "Pacts". Occasionally, there will be a technical error and my veg/workout/food log doest count but provided you report any problems the Pact team hold off on charging you until it's resolved. Out of the few problems I've had I've not once been charged as they are pretty on the ball.

Last week I earned $4.06 for 7 workouts, 7 days of food logging and 20 photos of me eating fruit/veggies.
I looked into the vegetable thing and thought it was a lot of work for no change in my habits, but then again, I have a highly habit-based (meal plan the same meals each week by season) vegan diet so eating vegetables isn't really an issue for me. Also some of the things people consider "vegetables" seemed kinda weak. But I'm glad it's working for some people :-)

Friar

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #159 on: January 06, 2016, 03:44:05 PM »
If you like a "carrot" as well as a "stick", I also use Gympact, which is like Beeminder except it also pays YOU if you work out, and takes money if you don't. It integrates with runkeeper, moves, and a lot of other things. I set the amount of times a week I plan to work out, and Gym Pact uses data from Runkeeper to determine if I’ve worked out enough. It only counts one workout per day, and the time spent exercising must be greater than 30 minutes. At the end of the week, if I haven’t met my goal, I get charged $5 for each day I missed. If I meet my goal, I get paid out a sum of money from the other people who didn’t meet their goal. Usually it’s around $1.25-$1.50 a week. I've been using it for 2 years and I've earned about $60 off of it.
Another Pact member, awesome!

They also offer money for other goals, or "Pacts", such as food logging and eating fruit/veg. I've been using it for about a year now and only missed one of my "Pacts". Occasionally, there will be a technical error and my veg/workout/food log doest count but provided you report any problems the Pact team hold off on charging you until it's resolved. Out of the few problems I've had I've not once been charged as they are pretty on the ball.

Last week I earned $4.06 for 7 workouts, 7 days of food logging and 20 photos of me eating fruit/veggies.
I looked into the vegetable thing and thought it was a lot of work for no change in my habits, but then again, I have a highly habit-based (meal plan the same meals each week by season) vegan diet so eating vegetables isn't really an issue for me. Also some of the things people consider "vegetables" seemed kinda weak. But I'm glad it's working for some people :-)

It does get a bit tedious to take photos of stuff but I feel that if I'm eating it anyway I may as well get paid for it!

Proud Foot

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #160 on: January 06, 2016, 03:54:47 PM »
I'll add my goals to the thread

- Consistently work out a minimum of 4x each week
- Run 500 miles
- maintain weight while lowering body fat %

horsepoor

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #161 on: January 06, 2016, 08:18:38 PM »
I've made a goal for myself of doing some type of exercise every day this month.  So far so good.   I've decided to go low tech this time and just write it on a small calendar next to my mirror so I can easily see my progress every day.

Tyn

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #162 on: January 07, 2016, 04:11:36 AM »
I used to do 5-7 exercises a week, but since moving 2 years ago I replaced my commute with cycling and have struggled to find the time/energy for other activities.  I'm still getting regular exercise, but I miss the classes I used to do and I can feel my upper body muscles withering away (plus my younger brother easily beat me in an arm wrestle at Christmas, I'd like to at least provide some challenge :P). So, my goals are:

-at least 1 session of climbing a week
-2 circuit/boxing based classes a week

monstermonster mentioning sleep reminded me that that's one of my goals for the year, but I didn't think about it in relation to fitness.  If I wasn't so tired all the time it would probably be a lot easier to motivate myself to do the above, so I'll add:

-8 hrs sleep per night and work on falling asleep more quickly.

and finally a stretch goal (no pun intended):

-1 class or home session of yoga per week

Bracken_Joy

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #163 on: January 07, 2016, 06:26:04 AM »
I used to do 5-7 exercises a week, but since moving 2 years ago I replaced my commute with cycling and have struggled to find the time/energy for other activities.  I'm still getting regular exercise, but I miss the classes I used to do and I can feel my upper body muscles withering away (plus my younger brother easily beat me in an arm wrestle at Christmas, I'd like to at least provide some challenge :P). So, my goals are:

-at least 1 session of climbing a week
-2 circuit/boxing based classes a week

monstermonster mentioning sleep reminded me that that's one of my goals for the year, but I didn't think about it in relation to fitness.  If I wasn't so tired all the time it would probably be a lot easier to motivate myself to do the above, so I'll add:

-8 hrs sleep per night and work on falling asleep more quickly.

and finally a stretch goal (no pun intended):

-1 class or home session of yoga per week

Sleep absolutely ties into fitness! Recovery is as important as activity. In many ways, our muscle is actually built when we recover from an activity, not when we do the activity itself. Brief overview with some links in it: http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/the_importance_of_rest_and_recovery_for_athletes  I would find a better resource, but I'm off to work soon!

Jon_Snow

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #164 on: January 07, 2016, 09:47:35 AM »
After 3 intense workout sessions to start the week, today will be for RECOVERY. It actually feels like my muscles are "buzzing"...a difficult sensation to explain, but it definitely feels like they have been put through the ringer...which is GOOD. Now I will provide them with lots of lean protein today in the hope that they will GROW.

Now, does a recovery day mean that I am going to sit on my butt watching Netflix or playing video games while eating Doritos? No! In preparation for our one "cheat day" (Saturday), I need to wander about town to get ingredients for my killer Pad Thai. Now, there is a shopping centre about 5 minutes away which would be the obvious choice for most...but, I am going to walk to another one, about 30 minutes away (with a big hill on the way) to get my ingredients. So, even my "recovery" day will have some modest activity to it.

And my DW is also doing her part - she is doing a spin class twice a week, and a step class twice a week as well. Its good to have a partner in this - and we can be kind of competitive with one another which is another motivational tool. ;)

Longwaytogo

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #165 on: January 07, 2016, 11:07:15 AM »
Does making fun of my lack of coordination during P90X count as an encouraging partner?

If so my wife is nailing it!

Also @ jordanread - googled Jessie Graff yesterday. She actually grew up 40 minutes West of me while Kacy is 40 mins north. Maryland is kicking butt with female Ninja Warriors!

Jon_Snow

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #166 on: January 07, 2016, 11:15:13 AM »
LWTG...not sure I would react well to ridicule from my DW...but if it works for you...go with it man! :)

Longwaytogo

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #167 on: January 07, 2016, 11:38:41 AM »
LWTG...not sure I would react well to ridicule from my DW...but if it works for you...go with it man! :)

Oh, I didn't react well in the moment (last night). Just trying to laugh it off now.

We had a freakishly warm Dec here and it's just finally got cold enough for the ski resorts to open. Heading up Sat for some family fun and outdoor exercise.

I'm as passionate about skiing as JS is for kayaking so I'm very much looking forward to it :)

Jon_Snow

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #168 on: January 07, 2016, 11:53:26 AM »
LWTG...used to be a skier of some note, until a pretty serious crash almost tore one of my knees up. I took that as a sign. Sort of miss it - though not the COST of it. Lady Snow and I are heading up into our local mountains for some snowshoeing this weekend though. Not as exhilarating as skiing perhaps, but probably a better cardio session. Supposed to be nice weather this weekend...so check my Journal for some pics from the peaks above Vancouver!

Have fun on the slopes!

Zikoris

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #169 on: January 07, 2016, 12:31:00 PM »
I've been keeping up my stretching, despite being pretty sick for a couple of days. Normally I warm my muscles up with 10 minutes of skipping or aerobics, but I've been way too sick for that. However, I found that laying in bed and kicking around seems to warm them up enough to stretch. Yesterday my boyfriend picked the Mortal Kombat theme song for me to kick to, and tried very hard not to laugh too much.

jordanread

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #170 on: January 07, 2016, 12:32:45 PM »
I'm in :)
[...]
I'm joining this thread because I really don't want to do what I think I need to do. And if I don't have an accountability space, I won't.
I'll add my goals to the thread[...]
[...] So, my goals are:
[...]

I've added you 3 to the tracking post. Welcome to the gauntlet. This is going to be awesome.



Can somebody give me a gold star or something?
Done:


Fun fact for those of you who didn't know, the tapatalk plugins for simple machine forums is installed on these forums. That means that you can use the emoji tag followed by a number for, well...emojis. I haven't found a good reference (and I'm way too lazy to take the 2 minutes of work it would take to make a list in excel), but I know that there are a lot. You can view them all in the tapatalk app, or just post a whole lot of emoji1 emoji2 emoji3 etc tags (don't do that in here, please - a good reference would be nice, but it will take up a lot of room). The gold star is emoji93. You can use the tags even from a computer.

jordanread

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #171 on: January 07, 2016, 01:12:48 PM »

Once again (assuming I did it the first time), if you know of any resources (including Apple Apps - that is completely out of my wheelhouse) please let me know and I'll get them added to the resource post. And as that post expands, it will get copied and added each year.

I recently rediscovered Google Fit, which in turn reminded me of some other apps that I've used that are useful. I've added those to the resource post as well.

Here are a couple Apps I use that work on Apple and I believe are Android available as well. Both have paid versions, but I've only used the free versions:

Loseit!: same idea as MyFitnessPal, but slightly different metrics for calories crunching. For me, I liked the interface better than MFP at the time we started using it to track calories.

Runkeeper:useful for tracking mileage for running, cycling, walking, whatever cardio you are doing. Distance, time, etc. For me, the real win for Runkeeper was being able to program intervals into it when I started running. When I started Couch to 5K (C25K) there was not a free app (there is now!) and Runkeeper allowed me to plug in the intervals for my workout. It's a very nice app and has a nice social aspect if you choose to use it.

Have not used:

C25K: If you are thinking about taking up running, Couch to 5K is a nice program. You can find different versions of it online/in app form. MY cousin recently used an app (apple) literally called C25K (first one in the app store) for free that he really liked.

For the resource post:

I can't begin to sing the praises of Beeminder enough. It’s a combination of quantified self and behavioral economics. Essentially, you tell it what you want to do, and if you don’t work towards those goals in a systematic way, it’ll charge you money. It’s helpful in that you don’t have to worry about whether or not you’re making progress on a goal, because Beeminder will tell you if you’re off track. It autolinks to a bunch of other things mentioned in the resources list - like Runkeeper and Strava and Fitbit.

At the moment, I get charged $5 by Beeminder if I don’t average 10,000 steps a day and average 7 hours of sleep a night (this is an average, so I can make up the time over the week – 9 hours one night, 6 the next is okay in the end.) If I get really behind, I can actually say “I have to go to bed by 8:30 or take a long walk at lunch otherwise I get charged $5″. This helps with making sure I’m on top of my sleep hygiene and daily steps. And I don’t need to do anything special because they’re integrated automatically!

I use the Moves App on my phone to track all of my biking, walking, and running. This is a really fabulous app that not only has a great algorithm to figure out what mode of transportation you’re using, but keeps GPS tracks of where you’ve been that are really nice and easy to read as a timeline of your day.

If you like a "carrot" as well as a "stick", I also use Gympact, which is like Beeminder except it also pays YOU if you work out, and takes money if you don't. It integrates with runkeeper, moves, and a lot of other things. I set the amount of times a week I plan to work out, and Gym Pact uses data from Runkeeper to determine if I’ve worked out enough. It only counts one workout per day, and the time spent exercising must be greater than 30 minutes. At the end of the week, if I haven’t met my goal, I get charged $5 for each day I missed. If I meet my goal, I get paid out a sum of money from the other people who didn’t meet their goal. Usually it’s around $1.25-$1.50 a week. I've been using it for 2 years and I've earned about $60 off of it.

I've got some of the android apps linked, but I also added the main sites to the links section (which have apple and android links). The search functionality isn't great on the itunes site,  and I don't have itunes. I can find some links to them, but if you want an apple section added to the resources, please include the link.

jordanread

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #172 on: January 07, 2016, 01:25:07 PM »
This recent talk of posting before/after pics had me going back into my visual archives. I found shirtless photos of myself in late 2014...about a month after I had FIRE'd. At that point I had probably already lost 10 of the 60 pounds I eventually shed - I still looked decidedly "doughy" (I will spare the forum by not sharing this pic). Of course, there is the infamous "sexy farmer" pic, taken in June of 2015...which shows in stark fashion how I changed my body in those six months. More recently I posted a Baja-beach arm pic from December 2015...increased vascularity (veins more prominent in arms and even in shoulder) evidence that I had reduced my BF% further. This has also resulted in the fact that I always seem to be damn COLD these days. Unsurprisingly, stomach fat is proving to be the last hold out.

I will say this: one of the reasons I want to drop my BF% is because we are going to start our post-FIRE slow travel in Central/South America. That is way too freaking hot for me, so removing some of my *ahem* insulation will definitely help with the day to day comfort.

I've been keeping up my stretching, despite being pretty sick for a couple of days. Normally I warm my muscles up with 10 minutes of skipping or aerobics, but I've been way too sick for that. However, I found that laying in bed and kicking around seems to warm them up enough to stretch. Yesterday my boyfriend picked the Mortal Kombat theme song for me to kick to, and tried very hard not to laugh too much.

The Mortal Kombat theme song is super fun to workout to. So is the Rocky theme song.

Does making fun of my lack of coordination during P90X count as an encouraging partner?

If so my wife is nailing it!

Also @ jordanread - googled Jessie Graff yesterday. She actually grew up 40 minutes West of me while Kacy is 40 mins north. Maryland is kicking butt with female Ninja Warriors!

I had that issue with my ex, when she was getting me into Dance Dance Revolution. I actually fell over while practicing. The laughing uncontrollably made for a non-productive but fun session.

Frugal_NYC

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #173 on: January 07, 2016, 01:42:38 PM »
My Goals for 2016

Squat: 405 (currently ~350)
Deadlift: 495 (currently ~435)
Bench: 275 (currently ~245)

As a stretch goal I would like to hit all 3 by May 23rd (my b-day) but this will be ambitious.

hudsoncat

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #174 on: January 07, 2016, 01:47:42 PM »
Does making fun of my lack of coordination during P90X count as an encouraging partner?

If so my wife is nailing it!


My husband and I work out together pretty frequently. I'm not going to lie, I do poke pretty good fun at his utter un-flexible-ness when we do yoga. But it's all with love, I promise! I'm sure your wife's was too. :)

I consider mine pay back for him calling my swimming "barely controlled drowning" Which is admittedly a pretty good description of my swimming, er, "ability."

jordanread

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #175 on: January 07, 2016, 01:55:40 PM »
My Goals for 2016

Squat: 405 (currently ~350)
Deadlift: 495 (currently ~435)
Bench: 275 (currently ~245)

As a stretch goal I would like to hit all 3 by May 23rd (my b-day) but this will be ambitious.

I've got you added to the tracking post. Welcome!!

jordanread

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #176 on: January 07, 2016, 01:56:38 PM »
Does making fun of my lack of coordination during P90X count as an encouraging partner?

If so my wife is nailing it!


My husband and I work out together pretty frequently. I'm not going to lie, I do poke pretty good fun at his utter un-flexible-ness when we do yoga. But it's all with love, I promise! I'm sure your wife's was too. :)

I consider mine pay back for him calling my swimming "barely controlled drowning" Which is admittedly a pretty good description of my swimming, er, "ability."

I just spit coffee out of my nose when I read 'barely controlled drowning'. That is awesome.

Friar

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #177 on: January 07, 2016, 03:58:36 PM »
I've been keeping up my stretching, despite being pretty sick for a couple of days. Normally I warm my muscles up with 10 minutes of skipping or aerobics, but I've been way too sick for that. However, I found that laying in bed and kicking around seems to warm them up enough to stretch. Yesterday my boyfriend picked the Mortal Kombat theme song for me to kick to, and tried very hard not to laugh too much.

Thats the spirit. Keeping it up through the illness!

Hedge_87

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #178 on: January 07, 2016, 05:00:53 PM »
Well got my 2nd workout in despite the crappy weather making me sleepy and unmotivated. It's been overcast and soupy here all week. Idk how you northern folk do it. I need sunlight. My workout has me jazzed back up though. Went super light weight  again. Did deadlifting, bench, ,Db rows, lunges, hanging leg raises, and plate raises. I'm planning on doing an A/B type workout routine (alternating between today's workout and tuesdays) until I get a feeling for where I am at then I hope to do wendler 5/3/1 from then on. I know the past is the past and I should just look to the future but I just want to slap some plates on the bar and give it hell. I know that would only lead to missed reps or worse injury.

jordanread

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #179 on: January 07, 2016, 05:14:48 PM »
Also starting in December of last year, I re-upped and expanded my research into bodyweight training and flexibility. During this kick (which I'm still on), I started watching a few Al Kavadlo videos. While I've read a few of his books (which I am going to go add to the resource post right now...since I forgot last time - DONE!!), I hadn't done much research into his other articles or videos. One of the things I found that really resonated with me was some of the things he said about the mindset to cultivate. It reminds me like a mix of stoicism and zen, and ties in with a lot of the awareness and in-the-momentness that is written about over on Raptitude. I'll talk more about why I chose bodyweight training in the S&F thread, but the important part in this context is that Kavadlo focuses a lot on listening to your body as you work out in order to avoid injury. There are also overtones of avoiding Destination goals so that one doesn't get discouraged. Listening to your body, and enjoying the workouts just for the sake of being healthy and strong, that's what he is all about. And this spoke to me. One of the reasons I chose bodyweight training is because it can be done anywhere, and without any equipment. While I do have Journey and Destination goals, I really just want to do this so that bodyweight work becomes a core part of my week. Even once I catch FIRE, I'll continue. I'm just fighting with my brain currently.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So I wrote about this a bit in my Journal, as a way to kind of get my thoughts in order. It didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it, though, and I think that's because of the method I was going about, along with all kinds of things going on in my brain. Even though I've broken goals down into Journey and Destination goals, there is something else that I'm working on. If I think about it long enough, I'm sure I can make it some type of Journey-like Destination goal, but I'm not certain that I want to do that. It boils down to creation in life, specifically what I want to create in my life. Running the ANW course would be an incredible experience. Being able to do the american flag on any horizontal bar at a whim would be great. Being able to have enough core strength to cross a crazy cable bridge in Laos (or walk my damn slackline) while still being able to enjoy everything around me would be outstanding. These are reasons I want to get fit and strong, but not goals in and of themselves. They are important to remember, though. That ties in with what I was commenting about earlier (in regards to outrunning a bear or something). One thing that I love about the beginning of the year, is that I take what I want to accomplish, and do a metric shitload of research. Reading books/articles, watching videos and the like, and combining all of this newly gained knowledge to come up with a plan. This research kick a few years back is what led me to choosing bodyweight training.

To that end, I'm going to take a minute and write about why I made the choice to pursue bodyweight training. To begin with, I hadn't even realized the potential that bodyweight training has. Difficult progressions, and the different levels of difficult tasks (one-armed handstand pushups anybody?) took care of one concern I had. I incorrectly assumed that you can only go so far, and then it's all about maintenance. Bodyweight also takes the holistic approach to muscle groups. No isolation excercises at all, and using the groups of muscle to perform useful tasks. Who needs to curl a car if someone is trapped under it? One lifts and pushes using all of the available muscles. I like the idea of every step one takes is about functional strength. It's not specifically about looking a certain way (although vanity goals have a tendency to hide awesome health based goals), it's about accomplishing reall life things. Amazing feats of functional strength, which, let's be honest, look way cooler that weightlifting accomplishments. Now, please do not take this as a judgemental of weightlifting, because I don't mean to, it's just not for me personally. Also, the idea of creating a habit of working out, building functional strength, and looking damn good is something I want to develop. I want it to be like my morning cup of coffee. Wake up, whenever I do, do a few minutes of strength training using my environment and my body, and move on with my day. Also, with my relatively extreme method of saving (at least when I have a job), I should be catching FIRE relatively soon (~ < 5 years), and once I have this habit in place, I don't want the availability of a gym (or equipment) to dictate anything about my life or my location. Doing things in an AirBnB room, or on the street, or whatever, really appeals to me. So that's pretty much why I went with bodyweight training: Freedom!!

So yesterday, in preperation for my workout, and with some of these ideas in mind, I decided to warm up by taking a walk around the lake by my house. This lake has all kinds of bodyweight training gear that I will hopefully use by the time I hit Step 5 (I love the idea of working out outside, regardless of the weather - makes me feel like a badass). So before I left, I tried to get into the headspace of appreciating the workout for the sake of the workout. While I was outside, I wanted to create an awareness of things around me. So instead of a few exercises for people to try out (which I think was part of the issue I had in my journal), I'm just going to write my experience of my workout from yesterday. I'm going to wax-poetic for a bit, since I do love my wordsmithing, and it's the way my brain works in a sense of awareness. It also gets the idea across that things around us are beautiful and amazing, if we only have the eyes to look.

I step outside, onto the porch. Through my feet, I feel the texture of the concrete. Since my neighbor is the one I hired to do it, I see those stamps every time I walk outside. I am reminded of my trip to Iowa a few years back, and the fun times we had on the deck of one of the SOs friend. That trip is what motivated me and the other half to invest in nice outdoor furniture. It's time to head off to the park. I start the trek (walking fast...since I do hate running). I begin walking up my street, a sense of hyper-awareness flowing through my body. I notice the young brindled mastiff to my left, who is one of the most skittish and scared dogs I've ever seen. Of course he makes eye contact, and slowly backs up just in case he needs to run for it. His lack of barking lets me hear the flock of geese flying above, honking as they coast down. I know they are going to the lake to rest for the rest of the day. So am I. I continue walking, feeling the ground beneath my feet. With every step I take, I feel the way my foot hits. Heel first, and then as I move forward, I roll forward onto the ball of my foot. The shock being absorbed by my ankle and knees. I cross a section of sidewalk, buckling from underneath, and sloping upwards. I see the tree next to it, and know that the inexorable passage of time made the roots of that tree grow, buckling one of the strongest materials we have break. I continue on to the park. I pass a house and as usual, their kitten climbs the tree on the corner, perfect walk-by height to pet him. So I do. The soft fur going running through my fingers, the look of perfect satisfaction. I feel like I did the right thing. I come to the intersection before the park. The green lights create a bit of a glow, as people drive by in their little climate controlled boxes. I cross the street and start my loop. I pass the body curls, seeing the cracked wood, the handles to lift up your entire body. I can just imagine the feel of the wood against my back, once I'm strong enough to work out at the park. I pass the pull up section, seeing the bars, almost wishing I could just do something on them. My breathing is getting a bit heavier, and as I inhale, I can feel the air filling my lungs. This is the feeling I loved most about smoking. The lungs expanding, the rib cage stretching. As I exhale, I feel the hairs on my face trembling in the wind. It's nice. I can write forever about just the walk, but let's skip ahead a little bit. I arrive at the house, and remove my jacket. My heart rate is already up a bit, so I feel like it was a good warmup. Today is for pullups and squats. I angle myself and reach out to grab my bar. The feel of the bar slightly pulling against the skin of my hand is like a friend I haven't seen in a while. I tighten my shoulders, feeling the threads of what little muscle I have contracting. I then pull, moving my entire body towards the bar. I pause at the top for a 1 count, and slowly move back to my nuetral position. It's not hard, but going that slow feels like work. I can't wait.

That being said, it's now up to everyone else to get the infamous Jon_Snow to post a before pic. He's so shy. :)

Honestly, I'm straight as all get out, but all of my (relatively successful) attempts at poking fun at JS come across like I have a man-crush. I'm fine with it though.

I am shy. And it just feels weird to post half naked pictures of oneself online - I hummed and hawed about posting arm pics for gawdsakes...

And JR...if your man-crush were indeed real...I don't think that would creep me out. Much. ;)

This recent talk of posting before/after pics had me going back into my visual archives. I found shirtless photos of myself in late 2014...about a month after I had FIRE'd. At that point I had probably already lost 10 of the 60 pounds I eventually shed - I still looked decidedly "doughy" (I will spare the forum by not sharing this pic). Of course, there is the infamous "sexy farmer" pic, taken in June of 2015...which shows in stark fashion how I changed my body in those six months. More recently I posted a Baja-beach arm pic from December 2015...increased vascularity (veins more prominent in arms and even in shoulder) evidence that I had reduced my BF% further. This has also resulted in the fact that I always seem to be damn COLD these days. Unsurprisingly, stomach fat is proving to be the last hold out.

It'd be fun to see some good before pics, and I really like the term doughy (at least better than tubby). I know the fitness aspect of your FIRE'd experience has got a lot of people motivated. Numbers don't have the same impact as photos!!

I'm considering buying a Groupon for a local gym. They do 30 minute boot camp classes 5+ times a day M-F. Three weeks of unlimited classes is $35 and five weeks of unlimited classes is $55. They don't list normal prices online but according to Groupon the 5 week one is normally over $300. I think that paying for it will motivate me to go and I know that I would push myself harder than working out alone.

Has anyone here tried one of these?

I have known people who successfully used memberships to motivate themselves, but it's all about your personality.

I did about 15 mins on my rebounder today and pilates machine with my strengthening exercises for the arms and legs.  I will get on my "real" rebounder later this evening for 15 mins and then 20 kettlebell swings.  I need to approach exercising slowly so I don't injure myself but I really want to go full force.

Jordanread - wow, ANW - that is great.  Good luck.

So, after a quick bit of googling when you initially mentioned a rebounder, I understand it's a trampoline. What is the difference between your 'fake' and your 'real' one though?


Hedge_87

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #180 on: January 07, 2016, 07:08:03 PM »
Jordanread. Thanks for sharing your "morning walk thought thing." I take several walks through the week. I might try and do a little writing  after one of my walks and try and get more in tune with my own environment.

mspym

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #181 on: January 07, 2016, 10:46:30 PM »
It's Friday, so far this week I've done weights 3 times and walked the other days. Yesterday it was sunny after 3 days of nonstop rain so I headed out for a walk, which was then converted into meeting friends and going to an art gallery and by the time I got home I'd somehow walked 20km. That felt pretty good but did make my legs like jelly for my weights today.

In terms of resources that may be helpful, I like Habitica- https://habitica.com/static/front because you can set it up for both positive and negative habits and it appeals to the nerd in me. You can also set up groups and have challenges and quests where your health is dependent on everyone in the party completing their habits. Which can be a fun way to achieve accountability.

There is a lot of research about habit formation being better than goal-setting for achieving long-term success, probably the clearest explanation is on stumptuous and her method of taking a goal and then breaking it down into what do I need to do this month/week/day breaks down impossible goals into achievable steps. https://www.stumptuous.com/joy-of-behaviours

Hope that's helpful

jordanread

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #182 on: January 08, 2016, 08:32:30 AM »
I've been keeping up my stretching, despite being pretty sick for a couple of days. Normally I warm my muscles up with 10 minutes of skipping or aerobics, but I've been way too sick for that. However, I found that laying in bed and kicking around seems to warm them up enough to stretch. Yesterday my boyfriend picked the Mortal Kombat theme song for me to kick to, and tried very hard not to laugh too much.

How embarrassing would it be if my 'after' picture shows me doing full on splits without grimacing, without having specifically trained for it?

Good job on sticking with it. Now it will seem like nothing when you are feeling better.

alleykat

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #183 on: January 08, 2016, 08:42:03 AM »
I did about 15 mins on my rebounder today and pilates machine with my strengthening exercises for the arms and legs.  I will get on my "real" rebounder later this evening for 15 mins and then 20 kettlebell swings.  I need to approach exercising slowly so I don't injure myself but I really want to go full force.

Jordanread - wow, ANW - that is great.  Good luck.

So, after a quick bit of googling when you initially mentioned a rebounder, I understand it's a trampoline. What is the difference between your 'fake' and your 'real' one though?
[/quote]

It is not really fake but just a smaller trampoline/rebounding board that fits at the bottom of my pilates machine that I can bounce off of.  Quite effective actually but I have a bigger, more official, trampoline set up in my living room. I like both at different times.

I rebounded yesterday for about 10 minutes.  This is much harder than I thought.

I am excited to start hot yoga on Monday. I hope I can handle the heat - literally.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2016, 08:43:50 AM by alleykat »

monstermonster

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #184 on: January 08, 2016, 10:13:25 AM »
Did my second 6AM circuit class at the gym 5 blocks away. When my $5-a-class deal runs out in another week, it's going to be REALLY hard to resist keeping on with it. Good workout, easy to do, and it's surprisingly easy to work out when someone is just SHOUTING at you with what to do and you don't need to make any decisions. Also the SO has breakfast tacos ready for me when I get home at 7...

Too bad it's $88/month. My other gym is $19/month but doesn't have any before-work classes and is a 3 mile bike ride (out of my way) instead of a 5 block walk.

Anyone used the Classpass thing? For $79/month, I might be able to eek out a few stretching/Barre classes without having a more expensive studio membership PLUS go to the fancy circuit classes in the neighborhood (they're on the list).


Friar

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #185 on: January 08, 2016, 10:29:54 AM »
I am excited to start hot yoga on Monday. I hope I can handle the heat - literally.

Good luck, just remember to keep hydrated.

I'm planning on going back tomorrow morning.

Jon_Snow

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #186 on: January 08, 2016, 10:41:05 AM »
Is it me, or are there a lot of fresh new faces in this thread this year? ;)

Zikoris

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #187 on: January 08, 2016, 10:57:51 AM »
As a dancer, you can't perform without stretching 45 minutes to an hour each day.
Genuinely curious since daily stretching is one of my goals: what exactly does one do when stretching for an hour? I did every stretch I could think of last night and held them for 30 seconds or so each and it only took maybe 10-15 minutes

I hold stretches for a minute. I do 10 minutes a day, which is quads, hamstrings, calves, butt, and of course splits. That's a very barebones routine. If I wanted to be more thorough, I could add a couple more to hit my hip flexors, different parts of my back and abs, chest, neck, and of course all the little arm muscles. For dancing, you also spend time stretching different parts of your feet, which no normal person would even think about stretching.

Jon_Snow

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #188 on: January 08, 2016, 11:07:31 AM »

Arms have been coming along nicely...

If I get brave I'll also do a before and after photo - once I hit the after stage at least.

I will hold you to this. You show us yours, I'll show you mine. Fair is fair. :)

Now, on this very topic...I would venture to say that a segment of the population would say that strong, toned arms on a woman are somehow "unfeminine". Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course, but this is one that I DO NOT share.

Zikoris

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #189 on: January 08, 2016, 11:16:14 AM »
As a dancer, you can't perform without stretching 45 minutes to an hour each day.
Genuinely curious since daily stretching is one of my goals: what exactly does one do when stretching for an hour? I did every stretch I could think of last night and held them for 30 seconds or so each and it only took maybe 10-15 minutes

I hold stretches for a minute. I do 10 minutes a day, which is quads, hamstrings, calves, butt, and of course splits. That's a very barebones routine. If I wanted to be more thorough, I could add a couple more to hit my hip flexors, different parts of my back and abs, chest, neck, and of course all the little arm muscles. For dancing, you also spend time stretching different parts of your feet, which no normal person would even think about stretching.
Sounds like I need to go YouTube-ing. I have tendon issues in my feet but haven't found a way to stretch them, maybe some of the dancer stretches out help

Try this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nh9fdJftCE It has most of the stretches I've done in ballet class, plus a few extra ones.

jordanread

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #190 on: January 08, 2016, 11:38:46 AM »
Is it me, or are there a lot of fresh new faces in this thread this year? ;)

There are a lot of fresh faces, and in my book, that qualifies as totally. fucking. awesome. That's also what happens when someone who is a Mustachian rockstar calls last year's challenge a 'megathread'.

Putting the gauntlet in my signature may have helped, as did friendly ribbing of other people. I actually sent out PMs to a few people (DollarBill - who kicked major ass in the losing weight thread last year, as well as DSKla - who is a professional personal trainer), but as of yet, that method has not paid off. I'm okay with it though, because I feel like we are all off to an awesome start here. JS, your participation played no small part in the success thus far. I imagine the arm photo helped, as did the fact that 'sexy-farmer' became a thing. As did the fact that this freaking thread is awesome. I think the power comes from the fact that the entire concept is all about personal accountability, as well as personal goals. And if there is another group of people better than kicking ass at things like that, I haven't found them yet.

I've been keeping up my stretching, despite being pretty sick for a couple of days. Normally I warm my muscles up with 10 minutes of skipping or aerobics, but I've been way too sick for that. However, I found that laying in bed and kicking around seems to warm them up enough to stretch. Yesterday my boyfriend picked the Mortal Kombat theme song for me to kick to, and tried very hard not to laugh too much.

How embarrassing would it be if my 'after' picture shows me doing full on splits without grimacing, without having specifically trained for it?
Well after seeing Zikoris' awesome splits photo I tried to match her and believe I got about 5 feet off the floor and did major damage it something important in the girly nether regions :-)! Gotta work on that.

Arms have been coming along nicely but it's been hard while travelling. Mostly just doing push ups (25 at a time, then a break for other arm/chest work, and then another 25, etc.. for 100 total) and other strength building and toning arm work (again about 100 each without weights - hate lugging dumbells around when travelling) plus skiing, running, hiking and some limited climbing. Always had very strong arms from years of playing volleyball and climbing but when I travel it all goes to pot. If I get brave I'll also do a before and after photo - once I hit the after stage at least.

FTFY. While I took my silly before picture, I realized that when someone as inflexible as I am tries to do splits, somehow, the distance from the ground becomes higher than when walking. Ridiculous. Glad arms are coming along, and as much as I'm not a vanity based person (aside from abs...but that could be specific for a functional reason*), I think that your goals are awesome!

There are plenty of things I could say in response to this:


Arms have been coming along nicely...

If I get brave I'll also do a before and after photo - once I hit the after stage at least.

I will hold you to this. You show us yours, I'll show you mine. Fair is fair. :)

Now, on this very topic...I would venture to say that a segment of the population would say that strong, toned arms on a woman are somehow "unfeminine". Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course, but this is one that I DO NOT share.

To begin and end with, strong, toned arms on a female aren't usually what one thinks. Bakari is/was relatively active on these forums, and this post of his has a lot of good links.




*If a zombie apocalypse happens, I already know how to render fat and make soap. However, washing clothes would be a PITA without a washboard. Therefore, ab goals are totally functional.

bloomability

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #191 on: January 08, 2016, 11:58:08 AM »
I'll join! 2014 was getting consistent with fitness, 2015 was figuring out what I liked, 2016 will be the next step.

Squat - increase 50lbs on BS (current 175), FS (current 130), OHS (current 100)
Deadlift - 315lbs (current 270)
Bench - 160lbs (current 140)
Clean&Jerk - 175lbs (current 150)
Snatch - 135lbs (current 100)
Strict Press - 105lbs (current 85)
1 mile run - under 7 minutes (current 7:16)

Clearly, I like lifting. I get really excited about it, but I don't really want to get so laser focused I don't try anything new. So my other goal is to try something different once a quarter and have fun.

There's also a chance I get talked into running a half marathon or some mountain or playing rugby again.

I think a mix of concrete goals and listening to my body will make for a fun year!

Also, we're in week 2 of 2016! Keep going!

Cookie78

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #192 on: January 08, 2016, 11:58:43 AM »
As a dancer, you can't perform without stretching 45 minutes to an hour each day.
Genuinely curious since daily stretching is one of my goals: what exactly does one do when stretching for an hour? I did every stretch I could think of last night and held them for 30 seconds or so each and it only took maybe 10-15 minutes

I hold stretches for a minute. I do 10 minutes a day, which is quads, hamstrings, calves, butt, and of course splits. That's a very barebones routine. If I wanted to be more thorough, I could add a couple more to hit my hip flexors, different parts of my back and abs, chest, neck, and of course all the little arm muscles. For dancing, you also spend time stretching different parts of your feet, which no normal person would even think about stretching.
Sounds like I need to go YouTube-ing. I have tendon issues in my feet but haven't found a way to stretch them, maybe some of the dancer stretches out help

Try this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nh9fdJftCE It has most of the stretches I've done in ballet class, plus a few extra ones.

Do you have a good general stretch YouTube video you'd recommend? 10-20 min?

There's a p90x stretch video I enjoyed in the past, but it's about an hour long and I don't have an hour to stretch each day.

Cookie78

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #193 on: January 08, 2016, 12:06:01 PM »
I skipped my run on Tuesday because excuses, mopey excuses, and more. I felt so guilty about it that I went the next day and then again today, even though it was -19C. Luckily I got ready to go running before I checked the temperature, and then went anyway because I was already ready to go.

It's not too hard yet, being only the first week of C25k, but harder considering the weather and how many clothes I end up wearing, how many snow drifts I have to jump over, and how out of shape I am.

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #194 on: January 08, 2016, 12:26:53 PM »
Putting the gauntlet in my signature may have helped, as did friendly ribbing of other people.

Worked on me! Well, your direct suggestion/invite and then the link in your signature when I wondered what the heck you were talking about ;)    Grateful for both!

Hey, that means I'm at 100% so far. Nice!!

I'll join! 2014 was getting consistent with fitness, 2015 was figuring out what I liked, 2016 will be the next step.

Squat - increase 50lbs on BS (current 175), FS (current 130), OHS (current 100)

Also, we're in week 2 of 2016! Keep going!


For the love of god, please tell me that BS does not mean what I think it means. Also, I got every other goal added. I just don't know what you mean with the one I quoted.

Jon_Snow

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #195 on: January 08, 2016, 12:27:01 PM »
It's a balmy 6 degrees Celsius here in Vancouver so when Lady Snow gets home we are going to go for a 5k run (a little over 3 miles). I was going to go to the gym for a treadmill run, but I'd rather not burn up one of my gym visits (I usually buy 50 visit passes, I think I'm down to around 10 left) if I'm not going to do some lifting.

She hasn't done a dedicated run since we got back from the Baja...so I'm thinking she might feel this one later - and probably complain that I'm going too fast. In my defence...I'm 6'4" (and she is not), and she needs to take 1.5 steps to equal one of mine so sometimes I will inadvertently pull ahead of her - which REALLY annoys her. ;) I'm curious as to what kind of time we will post. Tomorrow we plan to do some snowshoeing, so I will have my fitness tracker app activated on my phone to keep track of that workout. Sunday night I will probably post an overview of Week 1 of my 2016 of my exercise regime.

Then it all starts again on Monday. :)

monstermonster

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #196 on: January 08, 2016, 01:11:01 PM »
As a dancer, you can't perform without stretching 45 minutes to an hour each day.
Genuinely curious since daily stretching is one of my goals: what exactly does one do when stretching for an hour? I did every stretch I could think of last night and held them for 30 seconds or so each and it only took maybe 10-15 minutes

You do a lot of active isolated stretching, also a lot of reps/switching back and forth. You usually do the same circuit a few times and use a lot of resistor bands. Also you often stretch with a partner. Check out the "New York City Ballet Workout" videos (available for streaming free somewhere on the internet I think...also available via less-moral methods) for an example of good, long stretching routines. My favorite book for stretching is "Stretching" by Bob Anderson. Simple, illustrated routines by activity (including "sitting in an office" and "waiting at a bus stop" in addition to "dancing", "running" and "hiking" etc).

Zikoris

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #197 on: January 08, 2016, 01:59:42 PM »
As a dancer, you can't perform without stretching 45 minutes to an hour each day.
Genuinely curious since daily stretching is one of my goals: what exactly does one do when stretching for an hour? I did every stretch I could think of last night and held them for 30 seconds or so each and it only took maybe 10-15 minutes

I hold stretches for a minute. I do 10 minutes a day, which is quads, hamstrings, calves, butt, and of course splits. That's a very barebones routine. If I wanted to be more thorough, I could add a couple more to hit my hip flexors, different parts of my back and abs, chest, neck, and of course all the little arm muscles. For dancing, you also spend time stretching different parts of your feet, which no normal person would even think about stretching.
Sounds like I need to go YouTube-ing. I have tendon issues in my feet but haven't found a way to stretch them, maybe some of the dancer stretches out help

Try this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nh9fdJftCE It has most of the stretches I've done in ballet class, plus a few extra ones.

Do you have a good general stretch YouTube video you'd recommend? 10-20 min?

There's a p90x stretch video I enjoyed in the past, but it's about an hour long and I don't have an hour to stretch each day.

You know, I generally find do a timer for the length I want with beeps every minute, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap-JvvU0xV4. It makes it WAY easier to time your stretches, especially if you're on the floor. One of the things my ballet teachers taught me is that you need to always focus on what's tight in your own body, so I usually try to move around a bit and kick my legs around a bit to see what I need to work on that day. It can be surprisingly different day-to-day.

monstermonster

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #198 on: January 08, 2016, 02:43:39 PM »
Did my second 6AM circuit class at the gym 5 blocks away. When my $5-a-class deal runs out in another week, it's going to be REALLY hard to resist keeping on with it. Good workout, easy to do, and it's surprisingly easy to work out when someone is just SHOUTING at you with what to do and you don't need to make any decisions. Also the SO has breakfast tacos ready for me when I get home at 7...

Too bad it's $88/month. My other gym is $19/month but doesn't have any before-work classes and is a 3 mile bike ride (out of my way) instead of a 5 block walk.

Anyone used the Classpass thing? For $79/month, I might be able to eek out a few stretching/Barre classes without having a more expensive studio membership PLUS go to the fancy circuit classes in the neighborhood (they're on the list).

If you go 3x per week that is just a little less than $7/class, so not much more than what you are paying for the trial sessions. Maybe worth it?

Alas, it's $88/month for a max of 8 classes, so $11/class. It jumps to $120 if you go 3 times a week. :( I'm definitely paying for convenience by going there. That's why the Classpass thing is interesting. For $79/month, I can do 3 classes at the nearby gym each month plus other fancy classes after work (like Barre/ballet/pilates). More complicated than a single gym membership though.

bloomability

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2016
« Reply #199 on: January 08, 2016, 03:59:15 PM »

I'll join! 2014 was getting consistent with fitness, 2015 was figuring out what I liked, 2016 will be the next step.

Squat - increase 50lbs on BS (current 175), FS (current 130), OHS (current 100)

Also, we're in week 2 of 2016! Keep going!


For the love of god, please tell me that BS does not mean what I think it means. Also, I got every other goal added. I just don't know what you mean with the one I quoted.

Hi!

BS - back squat
FS - front squat
OHS - overhead squat

... what did you think it meant?

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!