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Exercise and Fitness - Olympic spirit!


baxus

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Did overhead squats for the first time ever on Monday. It was fun but it will take some getting used to and focusing on the proper form seems even more important for that one. I did it with Olympic bar only, without weights and will do so until I'm 100% certain I got that right.

Our workout after that included overhead lunges and, as I may have stated earlier, lunges are the bane of my existence. :D 

5 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Leap and Baxus (I think) have both posted about staying below 80kg.  I'm right at 80-81kg depending on the week, but feeling very good at that weight.  I think it's more about body fat, muscle mass and general conditioning than absolute weight.  It's even possible that I'll add another kg or two over several months if I keep lifting weights, although I feel like my strength and weight are at a plateau/equilibrium for now.

(I'm 6'0, fwiw)

Yeah, I've been trying to stay under 80kgs for a while now and rather successfully if I might add (fluctuating around 77-78kgs at the moment).

Weight itself doesn't mean much, that's true. Body fat percentage and muscle mass are much goals to strive for. It's just that I know that without making significant changes to my diet my muscle mass is not going to increase that much and with somewhat regular training I can cut body fat percentage to 12-13%. It's just that it's easier to tell people "oh, I'm trying to get to Xkgs" than to explain all that. :D

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5 hours ago, ithanos said:

<waves to Lany> Good to see you back posting in this thread!

Its been over 2 1/2 weeks since I last did a decent workout, which happened to be the one did early in my vacation. Had planned to get more sessions in during that time but the late nights socializing, which I have no regrets about, kept getting later and later each day.  

I've steered my nutrition back on point these last few days, and have a class planned for tomorrow. Will ease in slowly so as to minimize any doms.  

 

:grouphug:

Yeah, that socializing to 3 or 4 in the morning makes working out very rough (but it was worth every minute of it!)

 

I'm down to 1 soda a day (in the mornings) as my only added sugars/grains, and will try to cut that out next week. I will manage 3 actual workouts this week, and I have taken to walking throughout the day. My building is pretty large, one lap around it is 1/3 mile, so I am going for 3 laps a day. Don't always make the afternoon one, depending on heat or work, but I'm getting it more than missing it. (I try to not sweat too much while at work, so it's nothing intense, just more movement. Sitting 8+ hours a day is rough)

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2 hours ago, Liffguard said:

@Iskaral Pust @aceluby @baxus

Cheers for the suggestions, some good ideas there. Unfortunately I decided to be a rebellious rebel and go my own way. Tried a beginner fencing class last night and enjoyed it quite a bit. I think I'll continue it for september and see if I want to commit at the end of the month.

I thought of fencing too, although I thought that it might be too much equipment, and technically a martial art.  Have fun. 

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7 minutes ago, Iskaral Pust said:

I thought of fencing too, although I thought that it might be too much equipment, and technically a martial art.  Have fun. 

You're not wrong. In terms of kit, I can easily fit it in the back of a car, so that's okay. And yeah, it's technically a martial art but it kind of has a different culture around it than your typical "angry white pajamas" martial art.

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I'm fluctuating between 85-88kg at the moment, and while I'd like to lose 3-5 kg of fat to gain some definition in my midsection, I've decided to just keep working hard and cut the alcohol (especially beer) out to 1 time per week.  Plan right now is to do that for the next 3 weeks and see how that goes.  One 'problem' I have is I think I've gained ~10lbs of muscle over the last year, which is psychologically taxing when it becomes harder to get under a certain # on the scale.

Tuesday I did some barre, but it was a pretty easy class, yesterday I did a flow class and just had a protein shake for dinner because I just wasn't that hungry, and this morning I did a 6am class.  Plan is to hit up a class a day over the weekend to keep everything going with a few active rest days before I start integrating a full rest day on Mondays for the rest of the year.  Will need to hit up ~25 classes a month through the end of the year to hit my goal of 300, which for me is a pretty life changing number.

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After I lost about 7 kilos from February to June this year, I am somewhere between 74 and 76 kg ever since. Of course my aim wasn't just to simply lose weight, it was to adjust my weight to the level I'd feel comfortable with. I'm already there, and I just need to keep it that way. I'm 184 cm, which would translate to a little over 6 feet I guess.

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Yesterday was shoulder press, pull ups, etc.  I felt tired and sluggish but lifted really well.  I'm resting today instead of squats and deadlifts because my lower back is stiff after new, grueling planks on Tuesday night.

One of the personal trainers in my gym yesterday referred to me as a bodybuilder (as an explanation why their client wasn't attempting to lift like me).  I denied being a bodybuilder, he looked me up and down and repeated the assertion.  I shrugged it off.  Not worth arguing semantics and he clearly has an interest in marking me as "other" so his client shouldn't expect to match my lifts.

I'll play my first ever round of par 4 golf tomorrow and then back to the gym on Saturday. 

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I'm back to work after the summer off (one of the perks of academia) and have been back in the pool twice this week. I've also been hula hooping (it's fun!) for 20-30 minutes in the evening. Went for a bike ride this morning. Nothing huge (8-10 miles) I scoped out a pretty flat route since it's hilly here. I have a 10+ year old hybrid bike that I used to ride on groomed trails, but now I am thinking that a road bike might be better? Thoughts? I'm not one to spend a lot of money so a new bike would be my next birthday or Christmas present.  

Weight remains consistent, but husband says my butt is tighter and I think my abs are more defined. (Since he's the most likely to see my butt in all its glory I'll believe him) 

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Nice going Whitestripe, have fun with your exercise.  Personally, I'd only suggest getting a road bike if you plan to do long distances and learn to cycle with your feet clicked in.  Any bike seems fine for infrequent rides of short-to-moderate distance.  But there are actual cyclists here who could offer the opposing argument. 

Yesterday was my first ever round of par 4 golf.  Enjoyable but frustrating.  Playing fairway shots after recent rainstorms is not the same as playing them from a mat at a driving range.  I left a trail of divots in my wake.  But I also hit some beautiful shots, I just need to improve the ratio. But overall a lot of fun, the weather was perfect (low 70s with a good breeze) and the setting was very relaxed and peaceful, and the company was good.

Today was the resumption of real exercise: bench press, narrow pull downs, etc.  It went really well, feeling strong.  

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Man, what a fuckin disaster of a race I just (merely) managed to finish. Much like Nora's half-marathon or maybe even worse. It was hot, some 27-29 degrees and the whole route was in plain sun, but it doesn't explain my terrible performance. Suffice to say I've made it in almost three minutes worse time than last year, and five minutes worse than my pb, reached just two weeks ago in a memorable rainy race. I seriously considered quitting after 4-5 km and it was just a 10k race, for Christ sake. Feel like shit. I wasn't expecting new pb, but I wasn't expecting such a drawback either. Maybe I'm fucking too old for this.

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7 hours ago, 3CityApache said:

Man, what a fuckin disaster of a race I just (merely) managed to finish. Much like Nora's half-marathon or maybe even worse. It was hot, some 27-29 degrees and the whole route was in plain sun, but it doesn't explain my terrible performance. Suffice to say I've made it in almost three minutes worse time than last year, and five minutes worse than my pb, reached just two weeks ago in a memorable rainy race. I seriously considered quitting after 4-5 km and it was just a 10k race, for Christ sake. Feel like shit. I wasn't expecting new pb, but I wasn't expecting such a drawback either. Maybe I'm fucking too old for this.

:grouphug:

Bad races happen to good runners! I don't think you're too old at all. It can be hard to race at top form back to back, and sometimes the runner gods just aren't on your side. Good on you for finishing, and I wouldn't take this as any indication about your overall running ability.

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On 9/4/2016 at 1:43 AM, Iskaral Pust said:

Nice going Whitestripe, have fun with your exercise.  Personally, I'd only suggest getting a road bike if you plan to do long distances and learn to cycle with your feet clicked in.  Any bike seems fine for infrequent rides of short-to-moderate distance.  But there are actual cyclists here who could offer the opposing argument.   

@Whitestripe

I'm no cyclist, so I agree with Isk on this. If you're going to ride your bike a lot, then it's worth investing in a better bike. If it's 8-10 miles every now and again, then it's only important that your bike works properly (breaks, gear shifts and things like that).

21 hours ago, 3CityApache said:

Man, what a fuckin disaster of a race I just (merely) managed to finish. Much like Nora's half-marathon or maybe even worse. It was hot, some 27-29 degrees and the whole route was in plain sun, but it doesn't explain my terrible performance. Suffice to say I've made it in almost three minutes worse time than last year, and five minutes worse than my pb, reached just two weeks ago in a memorable rainy race. I seriously considered quitting after 4-5 km and it was just a 10k race, for Christ sake. Feel like shit. I wasn't expecting new pb, but I wasn't expecting such a drawback either. Maybe I'm fucking too old for this.

Hey, look at the bright side. Now you have had your obligatory crap race and you can move on. Every single one of us has had at least one of those. I've had races I hated even when I made good time in them. All it will do is make you appreciate good races even more. ;)

Keep your head up, and don't let one bad experience bring you down.

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Thanks a lot guys. I feel better now after a good night's sleep. The information that the winner of yesterday's race had time about two minutes worse than last year's winner, also helped. ;)

I always knew I hate running when it's hot, I knew five or ten additional degrees can easily cut half a minute off of my usual pace, but I didn't expect this effect to be such profound when I generally felt good and thought was in a good form the past few months.

Oh, well. Life goes on and tomorrow's another training and a chance for improvement. 

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My usual lower body session on Sunday got skipped because I let my son have his choice of family activities for his last couple of days of summer break. 

Sunday included a family cycle after a movie, but only ~6 miles so only a light workout.  Monday was spent at an outdoor pool complex so I could at least fit in some good laps between spells on the lazy river and slide.  A 30m lap pool felt much longer than the 22m pool I swam regularly last year.  I know the math is obvious but I really felt the added distance in my lats after a dozen laps. 

I'm very tempted to get a pool membership again for regular (probably weekly) use.  But I need to find one with better hours than my last place. 

I'm traveling today and have an early start tomorrow too.  Hopefully back in the gym Wednesday evening or Thursday depending on tiredness. 

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Got three classes in over the long weekend, and while I felt really good during the classes, the last couple left my knee feeling less than stellar.  I've gone through this before, so I'm not too worried since it's an issue w/ the meniscus that only really shows it self when I'm locking down the knee.  Just need to take it easy on that side, give it some extra care w/ ice & stretches, and it should clear itself out.  Went to the dr about it the last time it happened and they told me to take ibuprofen and don't do things that aggravate it.  Thanks doc.

Anyway, got an early morning class in at 6am and will follow up w/ barre tonight.  Think that will be my Tuesday/Thursday schedule for the next month to see how I like it.  Also starting up 90 min Friday classes this week as well as our Sunday double I do w/ my gf from 4:30-7, half of which is all restorative.  Really looking forward to it and feel like I'm back to where I was a couple months ago.

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10 minutes ago, Leap said:

my pace felt better than it actually was.

Yeah, it happens to me sometimes, though it happens the other way around as well. Tonight I wasn't checking my watch the whole training and was sure the pace wouldn't be much better than 5:30, but it was actually 5:20. On the 9.5k distance that's more than 1,5 minute difference. Why couldn't I make at least such a pace on Sunday?

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Been taking a an Olympic lifting class 3x a week, finally hit a clean and jerk PR at 240lbs.  Snatch still is horrendous, but being able to have the focus each week has helped a lot to figure out what the problems have been.

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