Exercise and Fitness - Pursuit of Excellence (or improvement, for start)

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

I hate burpees. I can only manage ten before my body lets me know how angry it is. In other news week 2 session 2 of the training program went well. I did 1.88 miles in 25 minutes and that was more walking than running. But my only complaint is how my ankles and shins feel.

[Greywolf2375]

Heavy kettlebell session today.

24kg kettlebell, clean & press and pull-ups

2 x 5-rung ladders

3 x 4-rung ladders

256 swings in 12 mins

My lower back would have exploded out of my body doing that. Did you do the pull ups holding the KB tween your feet?

[Eponine]

Hollow rocks! Hate them. I've found no love here. I will lay on conditioned ground and eke these out and master thee father.

I hate them too! My spine was not meant to get crushed against the floor!

[Liffguard]

My lower back would have exploded out of my body doing that. Did you do the pull ups holding the KB tween your feet?

Nah, that would have been nasty. Pull-ups were just normal bodyweight. It's a grease-the-groove program so I wasn't aiming for high intensity or failure on the first half of the session. That's what the swings were for.

[Balefont]

Squats are still awesome. No other updates. <3

Indeed. Functional movement FTW!

[Starkess]

I decided to stop tracking for a little while and to stop weighing myself until after my race this month, as I want to focus on performance and not how many abs I can see. And I'm pretty sure I've gained like 5 pounds in a week. Even though my plans and mental attitude (eat healthy, walk as much as possible, don't binge) are the same, somehow I suck at acting the same. Anyway, trying not to freak out about it. One of the downsides of maintaining a relatively low BF % and working so hard for a certain figure is that it can go away so quickly if the right effort isn't applied. But I know how to get back there, so for now, just do my best and chill out about "feeling fat" all the time.

[baxus]

Good work! Losing 2kg of fat at that bf %age is pretty impressive.

My shit season continues with a minor tear in my delt. Another 2 weeks out. Immensely frustrating.

Well, it was quite a long winter of erging spiced up with a fair bit of running in the last 2 months or so.

If that wouldn't burn the fat, I'd be hard pressed to find what would. ;)

Some mates had below 10% body fat, one going as low as 6.5% :blink:

Sorry to hear about your shit season, as you put it.

Hopefully, the bad part will be over soon and you'll get on with rowing and rugby uninterrupted for a long while.

[Inigima]

So I haven't really run in about two years, although I am getting plenty of other exercise. Thinking of starting up again now it's warming up. At the time I was running about 5k distances, but where do I start now? Do I need to start back at the beginning of Couch to 5K, or can I start somewhere in the middle, or just start running at a mile and amp up, or?

[Starkess]

I would say if you haven't run for two years, treat it like your body doesn't know running. I don't think you'd have to do Couch to 5k again, though, unless you want to. Just take it slow at first, don't ramp up mileage too quickly (10% per week is general rule of thumb), and pay attention to signs from your body that you are overdoing it (shin splints, knee pain, etc).

[baxus]

@Ini:

I'd suggest you go out for a jog and see where it takes you.

You may be surprised at the results.

While you are unlikely to be at the same level you were before stopping running, you might not be as far off as you think.

After all, it's not as if you were sitting on a couch in front of a TV for 2 years so I doubt you'd need to go all the way back.

Still, bear in mind what Starkess said and watch out not to overdo it.

[zelticgar]

Fitbit obsession continues. I got my wife one after she saw mine and now we are competing for steps. I predict i will be done with it within the next couple of weeks but it is fun right now. Once i really start to ramp up my swimming for triathlon season the fitbit wont do much for me. I think they are water resistant but not water proof.

[Greywolf2375]

Squats are still awesome. No other updates. <3

yes they are! Just PR'd my front squat by 55lbs, hit 300. My strength didn't increase by that much, but the mobility and flexibility has also improved a lot as well.

[Eponine]

So I haven't really run in about two years, although I am getting plenty of other exercise. Thinking of starting up again now it's warming up. At the time I was running about 5k distances, but where do I start now? Do I need to start back at the beginning of Couch to 5K, or can I start somewhere in the middle, or just start running at a mile and amp up, or?

Cover three miles at a moderate effort and measure your total speed and how often you needed to walk. Then you'll have your basis for what kind of work you need to do to run the entire distance again.

[Ordos]

This morning after my hike, I was surprised at the number on the scale as I was not even trying to lose weight: 77.3 kilograms. I would like to be 77.0 but admittedly I was not trying and putting off more weight loss for the future.

The thinner I get, the more my shirts look like curtains hanging from my shoulders. And jackets really add bulk.

Fear not, I don't have an eating disorder. I was overweight in recent years.

[baxus]

I went out on the water in a coxed four this morning.

Out of the 5 of us, only the cox has been out on the water this season so you can imagine we were quite rusty.

Plus this was the first time that all four of us rowed in a four so there were some technique issues there as well.

Still, at times we managed to get some strokes properly and make the whole outing worthwhile.

Our main eight is on a regatta in Nantes this weekend so the club is far from full capacity but I'm hoping enough people will come tomorrow for an eight.

[Inigima]

Girlfriend unexpectedly wanted to try running, so last night we went out and bought her running shoes, and rather than figure out where I needed to be I'm just starting Couch to 5K over with her. I am definitely in better shape than the first time I tried to do this, but I think it's fine to ease back into it. She did really well, mostly kept pace with me, didn't complain, feels accomplished, and loves her new shoes. :)

[Liffguard]

Light kettlebell session today.

24kg kb. Pull-ups bodyweight.

5 x 3-rung ladders for clean & press and pull-ups.

116 snatches in 12 minutes.

[Iskaral Pust]

Last night was another late night gym session. My rest day on Tuesday extended through Thursday, mainly because I'm still not sleeping enough.

Pretty warm and humid in the gym last night. My shirt was soaked through after my usual 2 mile run on the treadmill. I was really hungry too because I deferred dinner until after my workout. The weights went pretty well considering: I was comfortable at 150lbs shoulder press, 150lbs wide lat pull down and 75lbs upright row, then usual arms to finish. I'm getting 8 reps at those max weights with some strain toward the end. I think I need to start adding some sets of 2-4 reps at higher weights for a twist.

On a lot of lifts I am now close to max available weights in this gym in my building. I have a membership at a nearby LA Fitness but it's opening hours are much less convenient for my schedule.

Hopefully rowing and leg weight tonight.

[Starkess]

That's awesome, Ini. I generally prefer to run by myself, the one exception (as in most things) being my boyfriend. He's not much of a runner, but I can drag him along sometimes. Unfortunately he might have broken his ankle several weeks ago so no more. (He was supposed to go get x-rays but didn't, thought he just sprained it, then decided it was probably broken but there was no point in getting it looked at because it had probably already re-set.)

I just checked out the elevation map for my half--I thought it was going to be super hilly, given my familiarity with the region (it's my own neighborhood!), but I was surprised to see that we actually run around most of the hills and then end on a long downhill! So it should be a fast course. I'm relieved, as I was thinking we would be running up and down the canyons. The poor full marathoners are! And they have a huge uphill at like mile 22 or something. Phew, glad that's not me!! Seven weeks into my training plan without missing a day, I really think I can beast this race. Sad thing is I just realized yesterday that my boyfriend is going to miss it. I was really looking forward to having a spectator to cheer for me and come hang out at the after party (it's the Rock n Roll half, so concert), but guess it'll just be me!

[Inigima]

I mostly prefer to run alone too, but I'll make an exception to get her started. :)